Filenews 3 April 2023 - by Fanis Makrides
In the frame of the case with the Russian spy who lived in Athens using the name "Maria Tsalla", Cyprus is included.
According to the latest press reports from Greece, in a period of two years and before 35-year-old Irena Alexandrovna Smireva obtained a Greek passport, she and her supposed husband Gerhard Daniel Campos Whittic, had made trips to our island.
It is currently being examined by the Greek authorities whether Smireva had assessed the possibility of permanently residing in Cyprus before she ended up settling in Pagrati.
The aforementioned information was brought to light by the journalist, Yiannis Souliotis, in a report in "Kathimerini" Greece last Saturday. The colleague, speaking yesterday to "F", clarified that this information is known to two independent Greek services and is being investigated.
In his report, Yiannis Souliotis notes: "Kathimerini's ongoing investigation into the case shows that between 2018 and 2020, before Smireva acquired a new Greek identity, the couple had made joint trips to Cyprus, unknown until recently. It is being investigated whether the initial planning of the Russian secret services envisaged their activity on the island before the Russian spy finally chose to settle in Pagrati.
This information is taken for granted that it was also put before the authorities of Cyprus. In fact, the close cooperation between Greek and Cypriot services on identical issues is well established.
Since the last ten days of last March, when the true identity and status of 32-year-old Maria Tsalla emerged, there has been a flood of publications in the electronic and written press of Greece.
For now, it appears that 35-year-old (not 32-year-old) Irena Alexandrovna Smireva obtained a Greek passport as a child of expatriates. She moved to Athens in 2018 and from 2020 until early 2023 she lived in Pagrati.
In that suburb she opened a shop called 'Galazio', which sold handicrafts and knitting. She also took part in photography competitions. After all, she claimed to be a photographer.
Experts place it in a special category of spies called "illegals". These agents are reportedly recruited and trained by Russian intelligence with the ultimate goal of taking on a special role in Western countries. Reports indicate that the "transformation" of Russian Irina Alexandrovna Smireva into Maria Tsalla and more generally the "construction of her character" may have cost the Russian state €5 million.
When Tsalla went to Greece, she used false travel documents. She was portrayed as coming from a Latin American country. So did her alleged Brazilian husband, Gerhard Daniel Campos Whittic, with whom she shared trips to Cyprus. The traces of the "couple" were lost at the beginning of last January.
A case with many similarities emerged in Slovenia in December 2022. The Slovenian authorities then arrested Maria Mayer and Ludwig Gish for espionage, specifically acting on behalf of the Russian SVR service. They lived in Ljubljana with their children. They had moved there from Argentina, where they claimed to be from.
Mayer had stated in her fake passport that she was born in Greece, Kathimerini Greece revealed. The Slovenian authorities contacted their Greek counterparts to determine whether it was true that Mayer was born in Greece, but this was not confirmed. For the time being, it is not clear whether Čalla's case arose in Greece on the occasion of that of Slovenia.
