The embassy employee’s crimes were committed between October 2020 and August 2021.
The former security guard at the British Embassy in Berlin, 58-year-old David Ballantyne Smith, faces up to 14 years in prison. The man admitted to the accusations of spying for Russia. On Friday, November 11, The Financial Times reports.
The British national pleaded guilty to eight counts. The crimes were committed between October 2020 and August 2021.
Smith was arrested by German police on August 10 last year and extradited to the UK in April.
The allegations include an attempt to contact Major General Sergei Chukhurov, military attaché at the Russian embassy in Berlin, with information about the faces, addresses and phone numbers of several government officials.
He also admitted to taking over the embassy’s CCTV system, which allowed him to gather information about the operation and layout of its building. On August 5, 2021, the man gave information about the embassy building to the Russian state, and also made unauthorized copies of documents.
Recall that the British government has ordered the declassification of some documents related to the investigation into the death of a woman killed by the nerve agent Novichok after the assassination attempt on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in 2018.
Note that former employees of the Russian embassy, who were expelled from the Netherlands in the spring, worked for Russian intelligence and were engaged in counter-espionage.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.