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She worked as a photographer and had her own handicraft and knitwear shop in the Pangrati district of Athens. At least that’s what everyone close to her thought. But the woman everyone knew by the name of Maria Tsalla was actually a spy.
Her real name is Irina Alexandrovna Smirevna. According to the Greek authorities, she is a Russian spy posing as a Greek. As of 2018, she was operating undercover in Greece with a false citizenship and ID, as reported by “Bild”.
There is no trace of Irina Smirewna
She pretended to be a child of immigrants. According to a senior Greek police officer, she misused the name of a baby who died in 1991. He assumes that the transformation of Irina into Maria Tsalla cost the Russian state about 5 million euros.
Although she was allegedly in a relationship with another Russian agent who, according to Bild, was spying for Russia in Brazil under the name of Daniel Campos, she began an affair with a Greek man in Greece for camouflage. Campos disappeared without a trace in January. At the same time, Slovenian authorities arrested a colleague of the two.
According to its own statement, the Greek secret service EYP found out about the agents when they discovered an attempt by a “third country” – namely Russia – to obtain personal data of deceased Greek citizens.
Has she spied in other countries as well?
The Russian secret services were alerted – and called Irina back to Moscow. Now there is no trace of her. She told her acquaintances in Greece that she was on a business trip and would return in a month. She never showed up again.
“It is clear that their activities would not have been limited to Greek territory. As an EU citizen, she could have traveled and worked in many European countries.” It is still unclear whether Irina alias Maria Tsalla also spied in other European countries.
The Russian secret service is also present in Switzerland. The Federal Intelligence Service (NDB) gave no details when asked by Blick. However, with the outbreak of the Russian offensive war in Ukraine at the end of March 2022, “continued aggressive Russian espionage activities” were found in Switzerland. (nad)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
