Crime realities in CEE... and still more Russian spy games

This week’s CEE crime-and-grime roundup has got it all.

Narcotics, espionage, corruption…

Just keep reading.

BUT before we dig deeper let’s put things in perspective.

The region, compared to literally most places on earth (and includes Western Europe), just is not violent.

The truth is that this may be the most shocking thing Yours Truly has ever published… ever. More shocking than anything published more than a decade ago for various publications. More shocking than anything ever published in the Cheat Sheet and Crime Report. More shocking than anything ever published on The Corners.

Ok, yes, I’ll admit it. Violence does exist in Central Europe. There are still gangs. There is an influx of hard-core gang members from the East, etc., etc., but the trend has long been downward.

In short, we are no longer in the 1990s (as much as it pains this old dog to write this), and the Wild-East (-with-training-wheels) has become much tamer. The mafia wars that raged in Bulgaria, the Baltics (yes, the Baltics) and even in core CEE countries, such as Slovakia and Poland, ended (for the most part) by the mid-2000s. Local assaults have been reduced in part through organic upgrades to police forces, as well as through everything ranging from EU funds to cooperation with Western police and Interpol.

Don’t believe me? According to stats released earlier this year released by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) only one of the usual suspects placed in the top five of EU countries for violence, this being… well, yeah, Bulgaria. But the list of leaders is revealing, this being Greece (20.9 percent); the Netherlands (16.7 percent); Bulgaria (15.6 percent); France (14.7 percent, Spain 13.6 percent) and Belgium (12.5 percent), with Finland, Germany and Turkey running close behind.

Now what do the above countries have in common? Narcotics trafficking and gang related violence (although Bulgaria also deals with various other violence-prone issues, ranging from human trafficking to, yes, old-fashioned shakedown rings and car-theft rackets).

And the safest countries on the list? Believe it or not, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Croatia and Estonia.

Now before we get too excited, long-time readers will know that 1) this investigator is highly, highly skeptical when it comes to CEE police statistics 2) news coverage, especially local news coverage just ain’t what it used to be 3) the meth-boom that is ongoing (and here Poland faces real issues) births plenty of low-level violence that simply does not make the stats—as do hooligan vs. hooligan battles in the provinces 4) there is violence where there are huge swaths of immigrants, and it’s amazing how little of this finds its way into stats and finally 5) there are still border areas (especially with Germany) in CEE that are simply bordello towns. Think what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas only with a much more frightening edge.

And yes, Czech(ia) I’m also talking about you.

But the real factor is narcotics. The cocaine trade battles—and these often do bleed over to hit “civilians” are still largely being fought in port cities in the West, which means Spain, France and especially the Netherlands and Belgium.

And of course there is still Montenegro and Serbia, which are simply not included in said rankings, but you know what I mean.

But if you do happen to reside in a fantastic country, such as Poland… these are generally good days.

Made better by generally restricting your gaze and simply pretending not to know.

But there are some (such as the dear readers of The Corners blog) who do want to know, and yes, we will dig into crime across the region soon. Very soon.

But first... espionage.

Russian espionage, in fact...

A forgotten vor...

Ah, not so fast. For in last week's roundup Yours Truly was again remiss, leaving out a tale that deserves to be told--and yes, once again we have vory-v-zakone/thieves-in-law content. For in March this year a long-running saga came to an end with the final sentencing in the US of crowned-thief Vazha Gabadadze, who must serve 21 months in prison for extortion.

No, this is not eye-popping, but the story rather is. For Gabadadze first attempted to extort USD 15,000 from a fellow Georgian citizen back in 2017. Oddly, the victim didn't even owe Gabadadze money... but his friend did, which was apparently enough for Gabadadze to threaten the victim to the point that the victim actually moved to the US.

In fact, according to acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky , “Vazha Gabadadze and his associates threatened to mutilate and kill a victim if he did not provide them with money.

"They intimidated the victim, relying on their connections to violent organized crime, to obtain thousands of dollars.  But thanks to the dedication of the FBI and the career prosecutors of this Office, all four defendants have been brought to justice and will serve federal prison time for their crimes.”

Three other  gang members, Teimuraz Tavberidze, Kakha Katsadze and Davit Tikaradze apparently also made the journey only to get nabbed by the FBI.

Like I said... these guys get around.

But today, let’s talk about espionage. It’s ongoing (and it’s not like it ever ceased), and it’s dangerous.

And the busts just keep on coming.

Russian GRU going local…

There was a time in the bad old days where GRU operatives specialized in handling their business like the super-villains of old—i.e. in person. They assassinated Russians abroad (or at least tried to). They blew up ammo factories in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. They tried to assassinate German arms moguls.

And keep in mind that I am talking recent activities, as the Vbertice ammo dump explosion, for example, took place in 2014--with GRU agents also behind an attempted coup in Montenegro in 2016. And in fact, allegedly the same GRU agents that hit Vbertice were behind the attempted assassination of Sergey Skripal in Salisbury, UK, in 2018.

But working as a GRU agent abroad has become tougher. In the wake of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine Russian pseudo-diplomats have been routinely booted from embassies and consulates in Poland, Bulgaria and the Baltics—and yes, true GRU types have wound up too often exposed by OSINT tracking kings such as Bellingcat.

Which means the trend has become more conservative, which, according to standard spy craft, is that you corrupt locals and the ditch them once the dirty work is complete (or once they are themselves arrested). This become evident with the arrest of Canadian Laken P. in Poland, the kid detained while only 17 after having gotten the jitters when it came to working for the Russian FSB.

In summary, he’d communicated via Telegraf with a Russian agent who used the code name “Slon,” taken a bit of cash and travelled to Poland only to panic and call the police. It appears he never delivered anything useful…

But no, you don’t take cash from the FSB.

Not in Poland anyway.

Now he’s incarcerated on a 20-month sentence in Radom.

But hey, Laken P. is a young guy. What's a 20-month prison stint.

He still will have his whole life ahead of him.

Ports and railways in Poland…

The thing is that Laken P. is hardly the only “spy” recently arrested in Poland.

Back in 2023 Poland noted it had arrested 16 in the bust of a Russian spy ring, including “a 39-year-old citizen of Belarus named Mikhail A.” who was “identified as a member of a criminal group acting for the benefit of the Russian intelligence and security services.

The Polish Internal Security Agency (ABW) noted that “Mikhail A. came to Poland in 2021. He contacted the coordinator of the spy ring. The evidence in this case suggests that he was regularly paid for the execution of tasks designed to undermine both internal and external security of Poland.

“These included the reconnaissance of critical infrastructure, namely military areas and facilities, and sea ports as well as pushing propaganda.” The spy ring was described as having tasks that included the reconnaissance of military facilities and critical infrastructure, monitoring and keeping record of transports with humanitarian aid and military equipment for the war-stricken Ukraine, making preparations to derail trains bound for Ukraine, setting fire to property and vehicles, assaulting by beating, and conducting information warfare efforts in a bid to turn Poles against the Ukrainian people and stir up reluctance to provide further support to Ukraine.”

Also in 2023 two Russians—Wagner mercenaries and apparent recruiters-- Alexey T. and Andrei G. were arrested in Warsaw and sentenced to more than five years in prison. These two had a long history, and were believed to have been behind break-ins, arson and assault in Poland and… Germany, where allegedly they had plans to kill the president of Germany’s largest arms manufacturer.

The in 2024 Poland noted the arrest of nine involved in a spy ring, which included Ukrainians, Belarussians and Poles who were charged with “beatings and attempted arson,” and who planned to commit crimes in Poland, Lithuania and Sweden.

In October, following a 10-month manhunt, a Ukrainian alleged to have spied for Russia, B., was arrested and is now serving a 15-month sentence in prison.

This month yet another spy, Viktor Z. was outed and detained—and he is now facing eight years in prison.

In fact… Poland has become a hotbed for Russian spies (and keep in mind that the above list is quite abridged). But hey, Poland is not alone.

Bulgarians abroad…

For example, there were six Bulgarians who used hidden cameras in the UK and Europe were sentenced in May and looking at five-to-more-than 10 years in prison each for spying on Russian opposition journalists abroad, faking or possessing official documents, such as passports, monitoring politicians and a US military base. The busted Bulgarians are Orlin Roussev, 47; Bizer Dzhambazov, 43; Tihomir Ivanchev, 39; Katrin Ivanova, 33; Vanya Gaberova, 30 and Ivan Stoyanov, 32.

But a common factor here? The group of spies (who were obviously far more pro than Pavan) also communicated with handlers via Telegram.

A different factor? They appear to have been bankrolled by Jan Marsalek, the Austrian founder of none other than Wirecard, who fled to Russia following the Wirecard fraud debacle.

But back to Telegram… Let’s just say it is historically… always in the mix.  Founded by Pavel Durov, used by a billion people world-wide (including plenty of Ukrainians trying to keep track of the war), it appears that it is not exactly what it appears to be.

Now why this comes as a surprise, I have no idea, but…

Let’s just say I would not trust Telegram’s message encryption. And let’s just say that a “compromise” noted by Russian State Duma rep Oleg Matveychev that allows the FSB to keep track of “terrorists” should tell you something.

But if you truly want your eyes opened, check out this investigative piece by Istories within which journalists note a key IT engineer and his related companies, which happily work for the Russian security services.

It’s good work, and you can find it here: https://istories.media/en/stories/2025/06/10/telegram-fsb/

You can get killed in Spain…

Now let's reach a bit further abroad... where we will find still more intrigue.

In late May gunmen shot to death Andriy Portnov, the aid to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Portnov was found shot up in the Pozeuelo de Alarcon district of Madrid, Spain, outside the American School there, no less, and police said that several gunmen were reported to have participated in the killing.

Portnov was hit at least three times.

Yanukovych is the very Yanukovych who was given the boot by Ukrainians back in 2014 before fleeing to  Russia.  (Yes, the same one with a villa full of gold, which did include a “golden toilet” even—but if you don’t believe me, check it out here: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-golden-toilet-bowl-yanukovych/25069164.html)

Which leads us to modus operandi. Portnov was long believed to have participated in siphoning fund out of Ukraine (or at least to himself and to Yanukovych), and he was long sanctioned by both Europeans the US for said suspicions, not to mention bribery. Which means… he likely made plenty of enemies.

Some will jump to the conclusion that this was a hit backed by or committed by the Ukrainian SBU.

Hmmm. Possibly. But also remember that those who divert, launder and steal—but who set aside a bit of skim for themselves—also make enemies. Not saying this is the case. Just… let’s keep it in mind.

And also let’s keep in mind that GRU operates far and wide, and it has likely killed in Spain as recently as last year, when former Russian helicopter pilot, Maxim Kuzimov—who defected with an actual Russian helicopter to later be given asylum and it appears a new life and name by the SBU (he was carrying a Ukrainian passport with the name Ihor Schevchenko) was found riddled with six bullets and very much dead, having lasted only about a year on the run.

History doesn’t lie…

But don’t think that any such killings abroad are occasional one-offs. See the link for a very incomplete list of Russian-backed assassinations, but apart from the more infamous killings (such as that of former FSB Lt. Colonel Alexander Litvinenko), note how many former Chechen resistance officers were murdered in the wake o that war, with the long arm of Russian hit teams targeting Chechens in Turkey and Berlin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Russian_assassinations

But in fact, this is a tradition that goes all the way back not only to the Bolsheviks but to the time of the Russian Czars. Let’s just say that prior to and after World War I, Russian dissident expatriates in Vienna and Paris did look both ways when crossing the street. Or when doing anything, really.

In fact, here is yet another (quite incomplete) list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Soviet_assassinations

And then there are the failed attempts, such as the aforementioned attack on Skripal in 2018  in the UK or the 2015 poisoning attempt on Bulgarian arms magnate Emilian Gebrev (as well as two others) by three GRU agents.

It’s a dangerous world out there. But this is tradition.

In fact, Russian assassins are proof that it pretty much always has been.

 

Preston Smith is a licensed investigator based in Gdansk, Poland. He can be reached at query@cddi.pl.

Photo credit: English: Interview taking place in the Maltings following the attempted assassination of Sergey Skripal in Salisbury, UK.  Date: 7 March 2018; Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_curb/40021333584; Author Peter Curbishley. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons general license.