A Russian intelligence operation infiltrated Europe's most secretive spy agency
On 19 January a Stockholm court announced that Peyman Kia, a former Swedish intelligence officer, had been sentenced to life imprisonment for “aggravated espionage”, along with his younger brother who got 10 years. Both were found to have spied for Russia’s GRU, the feared military intelligence service, for more than a decade. The impact of their spying on Sweden’s national security appears immense.
Until its recent decision to join NATO, Sweden was known for its neutrality. But during the Cold War, it was in practice an active member of the western intelligence alliance. In 1954 it signed a top secret treaty with the Five Eyes intelligence alliance (US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand). Documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that this co-operation was maintained over the years, with a particular focus on Russia where Sweden had access to a “unique collection of Russian high-priority targets”. As the court sentencing Kia noted, “he has acquired, forwarded and disclosed … information to Russia, which constitutes the main threat to Sweden’s security”…
Arthur Snell for Not All Doom.
