
Авторская колонка
Статьи
-
Опубликовано: 15 Октябрь 2022
-
Просмотров: 2920

СМИ: 17 дипломатов РФ занимались в Нидерландах шпионажем
Семнадцать российских дипломатов, высланных из Нидерландов в последних числах марта, занимались шпионажем, в том числе, предположительно, собирали данные о компьютерных чипах для российской армии.
Семнадцать российских дипломатов, высланных из Нидерландов в последних числах марта 2022 года, занимались шпионажем, в том числе, предположительно, собирали данные о компьютерных чипах для российской армии. Это выяснилось в результате расследования, предпринятого голландскими изданиями NOS и Nieuwsuur совместно с бельгийской газетой De Tijd.
По данным журналистов, восемь депортированных россиян работали в российской Службе внешней разведки (СВР) РФ, еще девять - в Главном управлении Генерального штаба ВС РФ (орган внешней разведки Минобороны, известный с советских времен как ГРУ). Их прикрытием была работа в посольстве России, торговом представительстве в Нидерландах и аппарате Организации по запрещению химического оружия (ОЗХО) в Гааге.
Самой важной фигурой из высланных, по данным изданий, был 52-летний Сергей Пятницкий, отвечавший за шифрование передаваемых в Россию секретных данных. Вместе с ним были депортированы пятеро других специалистов по шифрованию. Их высылка была критически важна для контрразведки западных стран, поскольку помогала держать в секрете планы по поставке вооружений Украине.
Голландские спецслужбы знали о шпионах
Издание NOS пишет, что остальные 11 шпионов собирали информацию и работали с местной агентурой. В том числе они пытались вербовать сотрудников иностранных спецслужб, работающих в Нидерландах, и предотвращать вербовку сотрудников российского посольства. Что касается сбора информации, то по крайней мере двое из высланных были специалистами в области военных технологий. Источники изданий в разведке предполагают, что они собирали для российской армии информацию о компьютерных чипах - Нидерланды являются важным центром их разработки и производства.
Впрочем, Бен де Йонг, которого NOS представило читателям как "эксперта в области российской разведки, связанного с Лейденским университетом", считает, что основная цель российских разведок в Нидерландах - выяснение секретов, которыми с Амстардамом могли поделиться его западные партнеры. Собственно голландская информация при этом не так важна, полагает де Йонг.
В выпущенной по результатам расследования статье также говорится, что голландские спецслужбы в течение нескольких лет знали о шпионской деятельности российских дипломатов. Однако не высылали их, поскольку опасались, что это может привести к зеркальным мерам со стороны Москвы. Однако после нападения РФ на Украину 24 февраля это соображение потеряло актуальность, так как западные страны стали массово высылать российских дипломатов.
Олег Соколенко
"For decades, about twenty Russian spies in the Netherlands worked for the GRU and SVR as an official cover"
Deported Russians engaged in counter-espionage and espionage in the high-tech sector in the Netherlands
Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal reporter News Hour; Ben Meindertsma research editor
The seventeen Russian intelligence officers who were expelled from the Netherlands at the end of March were involved in, among other things, encrypting secret messages, counter-espionage and collecting information about computer chips for the Russian army. This is apparent from research by the NOS and Nieuwsuur in collaboration with the Belgian newspaper De Tijd .
Eight of them worked for the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR, nine for the military intelligence service GRU. The men posed as trade representatives in Amsterdam, military attaché or diplomat at the OPCW, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. Until now, nothing was known about their identity and their activities in the Netherlands.
For decades, about twenty Russian spies in the Netherlands worked for the GRU and SVR (one of the successors to the KGB) as an official cover: a spy posing as a diplomat. It was about half the senior embassy staff. No other country has done it on that scale.
All those years, the Dutch intelligence services AIVD and MIVD knew that the Russian intelligence officers could move freely in the Netherlands, which often quickly found out after a visa application that it was a spy. Knowing that Moscow would respond to an expulsion by expelling a Dutch diplomat itself, the presence of Russian spies in the Netherlands was tolerated for years by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This is what we know about the Russian spies in the Netherlands
That came to an abrupt end when Russia invaded Ukraine last February. After consultation with the AIVD and MIVD and other European countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided at the end of March to deport most of the Russian spies. Other European countries did the same. In total, more than 200 spies had to leave.
Reference
At the top of the Dutch list was 52-year-old Sergey Pyatnitskiy, intelligence sources say. His deportation was a priority for the services because he was in charge of the encryption service at the Hague embassy. On the embassy grounds, the Russian intelligence services each have their own so-called referentura , a room from which secret encrypted communication with Moscow takes place.
Expulsion of the encryption experts - six in total in the Netherlands - was a priority for all Western countries, which insisted on keeping NATO secrets and information about arms supplies to Ukraine out of Russian hands. The Russians also see the encryption experts as essential. According to intelligence sources, the six were only allowed to leave the embassy grounds under strict supervision to prevent them from overflowing.
The remaining eleven spies were all tasked with actively gathering intelligence or identifying individuals of interest. Two expelled spies were working for the RRK Directorate , the SVR's branch in Moscow that focuses on counterintelligence. They were charged with recruiting sources from Dutch intelligence personnel and from foreign services active in the Netherlands, such as the American intelligence service CIA. In addition, the two had to keep an eye on the other embassy personnel, to make sure that no one would come into contact with Dutch intelligence services.
At least two other deported intelligence officers have military technology expertise. Intelligence sources assume that they were in the Netherlands, among other things, to collect information about computer chips for the Russian army. The Netherlands is known worldwide as an important player in the development of computer chips. Two years ago, a Russian intelligence officer was also deported who, in the eyes of the Netherlands, was too actively involved in this.
The Russian intelligence officers used different cover-ups. Three of them entered the Netherlands as members of the Russian delegation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. However, they rarely, if ever, showed up there. Four GRU officers worked as a commercial attaché from the small Russian trade representation on the Museumplein in Amsterdam. One of them was the Deputy Head of Representation.
Ben de Jong, an expert in the field of Russian intelligence services and affiliated with Leiden University, thinks that the deported Russians were not necessarily looking for Dutch information: "If a Russian service succeeds here in recruiting someone from Foreign Affairs or Defense, then you have a good chance that they will also find out secrets that are shared with the Netherlands by other countries or organizations. In this way, the Netherlands acts as a back door."
The Netherlands previously announced that it had left three spies behind. It turns out to be the heads of the GRU and the SVR at the embassy in The Hague, and an SVR officer who is responsible, among other things, for the safety of the embassy staff. The Netherlands wants to keep lines open with the Russian services in the event of emergencies, for example in the event of terrorist threats.
In a joint response, the AIVD and the MIVD do not discuss the seventeen names and positions. The services do confirm that the men had been monitored for much longer. "The attitude of Russia and the support that the Netherlands expressed for Ukraine made the presence of this group in the Netherlands extra undesirable."
For this investigation, the investigative editors of NOS and Nieuwsuur and the Belgian newspaper De Tijd spoke with six current and former intelligence sources in the Netherlands and Belgium, with a number of diplomatic sources and with a person who worked in the past at one of the Russian representations in the Netherlands. . The findings were presented to a number of analysts, including Ben de Jong, an intelligence researcher at Leiden University, and Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian services and affiliated with the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI) in London. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment. The Russian embassy was asked several times for an interview, but in the end did not accede to that request.