The sweet life of Russian spies in Slovakia: orgies in the mountains and a conspiracy apartment in Bratislava

In the spring of 2003, it was hard not to notice this pair of men at the Hotel Panorama in Strbske Pleso, drinking continuously for three days and three nights. Alone in his room, from which he had yet to get empty vodka bottles.

One was Austrian, the other Russian. At first glance, the men looked like old friends, perhaps businessmen, who came to the High Tatras in Slovakia just to relax and enjoy the mountain air.

Mysterious absorbents soon left for the Austrian capital, Vienna, but earlier someone had seen the Austrian count the banknotes of the highest possible denomination without hiding too much.

The coronavirus was more worrying

Hotel staff in the High Tatras could not know that they were dealing with spies. The first is Colonel Martin Möller of the Austrian Armed Forces, who has been passing secret information to Moscow since the Soviet era. He is now 72 years old.

The second is Igor Yegorovich Zaitsev, Möller’s supervisor and Russian military intelligence agent. Austria only issued one arrest warrant for this explorer, prompting Möller to go to the mountains from Vienna last year, a 66-year-old agent who worked in Central Europe for a long time.

Both are now known as the heroes of one of the biggest spy scandals in Austria, long known as a nest of spies.

Convictions are often accompanied by years in prison and a public debate about the influence of Russian spies, but Austria, which until recently had a very good deal with Russia, has remained silent.

But Slovakia also played an important role in this story, since M. Möller mainly interacted with I. Zaitsev in this country.

The case of M. Möller, it is true, ended without great losses. In a closed-door trial in Salzburg, he was sentenced to three years in prison in June, when Austrians and Slovaks were most concerned about the coronavirus crisis.

One did not even reveal important details such as the identity of the Russian agent.

Convictions are often accompanied by years in prison and a public debate about the influence of Russian spies, but Austria, which until recently had a very good deal with Russia, has remained silent.

The gentle punishment did not surprise

Despite the fact that M. Möller has been spying for Moscow for at least 25 years and has earned around 300 thousand. he was released immediately after the hearing.

Not only because he had already spent about half of his sentence in custody, but also because the judge ruled that he “can no longer spy on him.” The Salzburger is now retired and in poor health.

According to intelligence expert Siegfried Beer, the lenient punishment for M. Möller is likely related to the possibility that his lawyers convinced the judge that the colonel had provided Russia with information that was already publicly available.

“Army leaders took this case very seriously and Austrian military intelligence provided a lot of necessary data.

Aim for the maximum prison sentence of 10 years, ”said Beer, who founded the Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies.

But the unofficial reason for such tenderness could be that Austrians, who are actively engaged in business and other cooperations with Russia, are not very angry with Moscow, says another analyst Gustav Gressel.

“I was not surprised by the outcome of the case.” In Austria, which had a large number of spies in the capital during the Cold War, such activities are not considered a serious crime, especially since scandals can damage relations with the Russian Federation “said Gressel.

Anti-Semitic views

According to Dennik N, one of the main witnesses in this case became the old friend of Möller, a 78-year-old Slovak who also has Austrian citizenship. She doesn’t want to reveal her identity.

“I am very concerned,” a woman who did not want to give a more detailed interview, but allegedly helped Austrian investigators a lot, told reporters.

According to daily sources, M. Möller used to use this Slovak car when meeting with a Russian GRU agent. The Austrians visited the High Tatras more than once; for example, in 2010 he returned to Strbske Plesa, living alone in the hotel “FIS”.

However, most of the Austrians went to Bratislava; the distance is short, there are no border controls. Once they communicated in a conspiracy apartment in the Petržalka district, the next time – in the restaurant “Leberfinger”.

M. Möller also exchanged messages with I. Zaitsev, leaving and taking notes or USB storage devices in the forest near Vienna. However, most of the communication took place in Slovakia, which appears to have become a convenient place for Russian agents to operate.

According to Dennik N sources, the Moscow Center likely recruited Möller in the Iranian capital Tehran in the 1980s.

It was very friendly, inspiring confidence. It is true that at times he did not hide his sympathy for Nazi ideology. He argued that there was no Holocaust and that the Slavic peoples were considered second-class.

The Austrian colonel traveled frequently to the Middle East and allegedly heard an “offer of cooperation” in Iran, which he did not refuse. It is believed that he just wanted more money.

And on the day of the unmasking, M. Möller, who was in contact with a GRU agent at the time, had nearly 30,000 with him. euros. The carousel then gained momentum: The soldier was arrested in November 2018 and sentenced in June this year.

“He was very kind, he built trust. It is true that at times he did not hide his sympathy for Nazi ideology. He said that there was no Holocaust and that he considered the Slavic peoples as second class, “Dennik N told a source who knew Möller.

According to Gressel, anti-Semitism and radical right-wing views also affect the German armed forces, but the problem is even more acute in Austria.

“It is also related to the fact that the radical Freedom Party has managed to enter the government and push its people, anti-Semites, into the system.

These officials are usually close to Russia. They don’t like the European Union, positive developments in Ukraine. “The connections of Russia’s secret services with the far right in Europe are well known and proven,” Gressen said.

What did he reveal to the Russians?

The GRU agent I. Zaitsev, as already reported by the Austrian media, was interested in information about the German and Austrian armed forces and their weaknesses. Dominoes of Russia and the operation of the system of weapons, ground and air forces.

According to court documents, M. Möller provided I. Zaicev with data on tanks, radar stations, air defense systems, NATO projects, and German military structures.

In turn, I. Zaitsev had brought special equipment to the Austrians: a radio station that allowed them to communicate in secret. Möller was also taught to encode the information sent.

Spies love the Schengen area and Austria accepts Russians with open arms. Austrians do not care much about espionage if the targets are other countries and international organizations

The Bellingcat study also testified that Slovakia has become a secure base for Russian operators on missions to Europe. It is revealed that one of the suspects in the murder of Chechen Zelimchan Changosvili arrived in Germany in Berlin after taking over a Slovak visa.

The suspect obtained the visa very easily and the Slovak embassy did not even verify the data provided by him, which was obviously false. Bratislava recently expelled three Russian spies operating in the country under diplomatic cover.

“The spies really like the Schengen area and Austria accepts the Russians with open arms. The Austrians don’t care too much about spying if the targets are other countries and international organizations, “said intelligence expert Mark Galeotti.

It is true that Slovakia is also quite passive. In 2018, she was the only one of the Visegrad Four to refuse to expel Russian spies when the West decided to show solidarity with the UK, which tried to poison Novičiok’s former Russian agent Sergei Skripal.

Former security guards – in business

According to Gressel, during the Cold War, Austria paid little attention to Soviet intelligence operations in the country and became a kind of bridge between East and West: “In Vienna, the Russian KGB, the East German Stasi and the Romanian services were the most active and brutal. “

According to the analyst, it is important to realize that after the collapse of the communist bloc and the USSR in general, these services adapted to the new reality: they entered business, law, banking. They not only made money, they also laundered.

Conservative Catholics hate the United States for destroying the monarchy during World War I. The German nationalists hate the Americans for the collapse of the great empire and the socialists hate the collapse of the USSR.

“The black bank accounts have not been reviewed and are being attended by former communist agents. Some of these companies have been successfully integrated into the Austrian business world: energy, transport. This was possible thanks to contacts in the East”, he is convinced G. Gresselis.

A good example is the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project and the consortium that finances it: “These companies are nothing more than a Stasi camp, as illustrated by the activities of the Austrian oil and gas company ÖMV.”

“Austria is also good for Russians because of the strong anti-American sentiment in the main parties. Conservative Catholics hate the United States for destroying the monarchy during World War I.

“The German nationalists hate the Americans for the collapse of the great empire and the socialists hate the collapse of the USSR,” Gressel said.

He also recalled the scandal surrounding the crimes of long-time German financial technology company Wirecard. Jan Marsalek, the company’s chief operating officer, told GRU, as the Financial Times previously wrote.

“Yes, now he is hiding in Moscow, but he really agrees perfectly with the Freedom Party and the people in the Austrian Interior and Defense Ministries,” Gressel said.