Grozev Tells Pobjeda: GRU Officer Very Likely Involved in Attempted Terrorism in Montenegro

(printscreen: YouTube)

An investigator of British investigative journalism website Bellingcat, Christo Grozev, has said in a statement to Podgorica daily Pobjeda that it is highly unlikely that Georgy Kleban, an agent of Russian intelligence service GRU who was filmed while giving money to a Serbian intelligence officer, is not involved in the attempted terrorism in Montenegro on election day three years ago.

Asked whether Kleban and a Serbian official had anything to do with the attempted terrorism in Montenegro on election day in 2016, Grozev said that "it is highly unlikely that Kleban was not involved in that operation," while, as he put it, for the time being they have not noticed "the Serbian official's role in the events in Montenegro."

"We believe it is highly unlikely that he (Kleban) did not participate in planning or assistance in Montenegro, because he was taken there by his colleagues while he was a member of GRU in Belgrade (he arrived in February 2016). However, given that he was working under diplomatic cover, it is highly unlikely that they used him for any operative work, such as meeting with recruits. For that they would have used secret officers like Shishmakov and Moiseyev, i.e. Shirokov and Popov," Grozev told Pobjeda.

The spy affair was launched in public after footage was posted online, and in the media as well, which shows Russian intelligence officer Georgy Kleban giving money to an alleged Serbian agent, whose identity has not been revealed.

The Serbian Security Information Agency has confirmed the authenticity of the footage, as well as that it unambiguously shows Russian intelligence officer Georgy Kleban. The investigative journalist also said that the Serbian intelligence service was not happy about the fact that GRU had used Belgrade for the operation that was being prepared in Montenegro in 2016.

Grozev further said that in his investigations in March 2017 he reported on the preparation of a coup in Montenegro, a part of which took place in Belgrade.

He underscored that Bellingcat had found evidence that the two GRU officials who had been involved in the events in Montenegro had traveled in secret to Belgrade weeks before the events in Montenegro.

"They flew to Belgrade and back from Belgrade, and according to the data I have seen they held all the meetings for planning and recruiting people in Belgrade," added Grozev.