It led them to Smith and they secreted hidden cameras in his booth to catch him in the act. He was the Russian military attaché to Berlin. He had first come under suspicion after authorities intercepted a letter featuring names and intelligence from him to General Major Sergey Chukhrov. There was more to come as the authorities were keen to be sure he was guilty.Īnother set-up with a fake GRU Russian agent calling herself Irina later implicated him beyond any doubt. He was so eager to please his Moscow masters, that when an apparent Russian defector named Dmitry turned up to try and give information, he took his details and picture to pass to them hours later.īut the walk-in had been a sting set up by British and German authorities and Smith's immediate betrayal of him sealed his fate and confirmed his guilt. Smith was able to continue gathering sensitive for four years before being snared by a joint UK and German operation – prompting questions about how he was able to continue his treachery for so long. The court was told of 'potentially catastrophic' consequences for 'each and every' British official in Berlin, with the cost of updating security estimated at £820,000.
His actions cost taxpayers nearly £1million in extra security measures for compromised staff. Using a tiny camera to film around the embassy building in the Germany capital, he would methodically gather intelligence Russia could use on a USB stick saved under the name 'Berlin holiday PicsNew'. A British embassy security guard who started spying for Russia after his Ukrainian wife left him was today jailed for more than 13 years for his 'despicable' treachery.ĭavid Smith, 58, developed a hatred for his own country and a sick obsession with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin after gorging on Kremlin propaganda and deranged conspiracy theories from the likes of InfoWars and David Ike.Ĭolleagues at the UK embassy in Berlin felt sorry for the loner after his Russian-speaking Ukrainian wife returned to the Donbas region in July 2018. But within weeks he would go behind their backs to gather a mass of confidential documents in a bid to harm both them and the UK.
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