The Czech government at a meeting on April 2 included Belarusian “journalist” Natalia Sudliankova and her supervisor from Russian military intelligence, Alexei Shavrov, in the national sanctions list.
According to Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, Natalia Sudliankova is a key employee of the Russian military intelligence (GRU) and for many years has secretly and deliberately worked for several Russian organizations in the Czech Republic.
As reported by RPI, Czech counterintelligence has detected a key collaborator of the Russian intelligence service GRU who had been working covertly in the country for many years.
In the past, Sudliankova was granted asylum in the Czech Republic, but according to Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan, she will now have to leave the country within 30 days.
Alexei Shavrov is a GRU officer who was Sudliankova’s handler and directed her operations from Moscow, Czech authorities say.
“They pose a risk or even a threat to the security of our country, and it is quite appropriate that we act in this way,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala emphasized.
“Natalia Sudliankova is a key collaborator of the Russian military intelligence service GRU and has been working covertly and systematically for several Russian organisations in the Czech Republic for many years. Her activities were directed from Moscow by Russian GRU intelligence officer Alexey Shavrov and she was paid tens of thousands of euros in cryptocurrencies,” Lipavsky said.
The Czech Foreign Ministry said that Sudliankova, on Shavrov’s instructions, secretly worked for several Russian organizations, including the state Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots and the Immortal Regiment.
The GRU leveraged Sudliankova to arrange the publication of articles in the Czech media on the instructions of her supervisor. She carried out activities on behalf of sanctioned Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, the report says.
On the instructions of the GRU officer, the “journalist” arranged the publication of several articles in the Czech media, for which she received tens of thousands of euros in cryptocurrency.
Due to sanctions, Sudliankova’s and Shavrov’s Czech assets will be frozen, and they will be barred from entering the country. Prague will also propose to put both of them on the European Union’s sanctions list.
Independent Belarusian media say that her escape from Belarus was a fake to start working for GRU in Europe.
Since 2022, the Czech Republic has updated its list of names of those who support Putin’s regime and imposed national sanctions against them.
Last year, the Czech Republic put on the wanted list Andrei Averyanov, one of the highest-ranking GRU officers responsible for the 2014 explosions at the Vrbetice ammunition depot.
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