Flated eyes

In Estonia, the Kharya County Court sentenced to five years in prison of a 30-year-old Russian citizen Artem Zinchenko for illegal cooperation with military intelligence of Russia. This was reported by ERR.EE agency with reference to the press service of the State Prosecutor's Office.

As the investigation established, the GRU recruited Zinchenko in 2009. From 2013 until his detention on January 9, 2017, the man actively participated in the agent and operational work of the Main Intelligence Department of the General Staff of Russia.

Basically, his tasks included collecting information about state security facilities and vital facilities in Estonia, as well as the movement of military equipment of the defense forces of Estonia and allies in the country. He was also entrusted to extract samples of military equipment, for example, communications.

Zinchenko periodically transferred the collected information and samples to employees of the GRU both with the help of communications and during personal meetings in St. Petersburg, the press service noted.

Zinchenko is a citizen of Russia. Since 2013, he lived in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit.

On April 12, Estonian Security Director Arnold Sinisalu announced the arrest of the GRU agent . He did not name the name of the arrested, but noted that he was charged with the Criminal Code of the UK of non -violent actions against the independence and territorial integrity of Estonia. As Sinisala noted, this is the first case of the detention in Estonia of an agent of Russian military intelligence.

The agent was detained on January 9th. The specific details of the case are not disclosed to him.

At the same time, it became known that in 2016, two smugglers who at the same time worked at the FSB were detained. This is 24-year-old Artem Malyshev and 25-year-old Alik Khuchbarov. Both had both Estonian and Russian citizenship.

Malyshev was recruited in 2011. His task was to collect and transmit information about the army of the Baltic country and the Estonian Defense Union - the Volunteer Paramilitarian Organization, which, along with the army, is part of the Estonian defense forces. Malyshev also collected data on the work of the police and border guard department. Khuchbarov was recruited in 2012. He also led espionage for border guards and police officers.

Malyshev was sentenced to two and a half, and Khuchbarov - to three years in prison.

As noted in the security police, in recent years, Russian special services have been interested in those Estonian citizens who have no direct access to state secrets. As a rule, people with dual citizenship come into view of Moscow, visiting Russia and engaged in a particular criminal activity at crossing the border. Such people work at the FSB are offered as an alternative to criminal prosecution for a crime.