Russia Expels Western Double Agent

Sputnik News

19:50 01.03.2015(updated 21:40 01.03.2015)

The Latvian national worked for Western intelligence agencies for 22 years. He started with working for Latvia, and then switched to the US. His job in Russia related to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Russia expelled senior inspector of Latvian civilian aviation Andrejs Dudarevs (Andrei Dudarev) known as 'agent Thomas'. According to the Federal Security Service (FSB) he spied for Latvian and American intelligence agencies.

He is now a non-grata person in Russia. He will not be able to enter Russia for 10 years. Dudarev has been expelled from Russia, according to NTV TV channel.

According to NTV, the Latvian national worked for Western intelligence agencies for 22 years. He started with working for Latvia, and then switched to the US. His job in Russia related to the Russian Defense Ministry. The inspector obtained classified data and send it to Western agents.

In the recent four years, agent Thomas tried to get in touch with Russian security services. In November 2014, he met with FSB representatives and asked them to give him a job in the field of military aviation in exchange for data he collected on his Western colleagues. He also asked for some financial benefits.

Dudarevs insisted that his archive could 'hit a heavy blow' at NATO positions in the Baltic Region. For instance, he reported about the Baltnet radio-radar system which was deployed by the United States to monitor the Russian airspace.

The agent also provided Russian security services with incriminating evidence on Latvian military officials. He accused lawmaker and Brigadier General Karlis Kreslinsh of selling fake Russian military universities diplomas in the 1990s. He was protected by former Latvian Commander-in-Chief Andrejs Zeibots.

After the data was checked, the FSB called Dudarev 'a poorly trained spy'. Some information from his archive turned out to be outdated NATO plans. The agent could not name any clear reasons behind his activity.

Russia officials said Latvian authorities would be aware of the facts of corruption he reported.

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