News & Investigations

In early October 2026, a group of 71 Members of the European Parliament wrote to the President of the European Council António Costa, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. They called for a common approach to the “Russian Houses” in Europe and for agreed measures to stop their activities. The letter says: More than four years after Russia launched its full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, instituti

Updated On May 9, the Russian Embassy in the Republic of Cyprus staged grand celebrations in honor of the main holiday of Putin’s pagan cult of pobedobesiye, the so-called Victory Day — dedicated to an event 85 years ago, to which modern Russia has no relation whatsoever, but which the Kremlin actively uses in propaganda of its own superiority and for the ideological justification of aggression against Ukraine. The culmination of the celebration was the performance of the mai

Against the backdrop of the EU summit in Nicosia and Ayia Napa, Russian entities have stepped up their dissemination of disinformation and their reliance on local political forces under their control. This involves not only propaganda but also systematic efforts to destabilize the situation within the country. Narratives Aimed at Division The Russian Center for Science and Culture and the Cypriot branch of the “International Movement of Russophiles” are actively promoting two

During the EU summit in Nicosia and Ayia Napa, Cyprus became a target of Russia’s hybrid influence. While European Union leaders gathered to discuss current affairs, the Russian propaganda machine has been working tirelessly to manipulate public opinion in Cyprus, flooding the information space with Kremlin narratives intended to sow distrust among Cypriots toward European institutions. The goal of these efforts is to cast doubt on European solidarity, replace facts with fals

Excerpt from a book currently in preparation Russia’s embassy serves as the center of its legal intelligence activities in any country. It houses the residencies of all special services (the 5th Service of the FSB, the SVR, the GRU, and Rossotrudnichestvo), which are only formally subordinate to the ambassador. During the Soviet era, 60 to 80% of embassy diplomatic staff were intelligence officers. As John Barron wrote, «Because the KGB fills many Soviet embassies with such a

Geneva and Vienna have long served as convenient platforms for Russian intelligence in Europe, because there are many international organizations there in which there are many Russian representatives. Positions in secretariats, translation and protocol services, access to databases and diplomatic infrastructure give the Russian Federation’s special services an opportunity to embed their agents without hindrance. And then these structures begin to function not as platforms for

On May 9, 2025, a day sacred to Putin’s propaganda, a group of five members of the European Parliament arrived in Moscow. The group included: Ruth Firmenich and Michael von der Schulenburg from Germany, members of the left-wing party «Sandra Wagenknecht’s Alliance.» Ľuboš Blaha from Slovakia, a member of the ruling Smer party. Ondřej Dostál, an independent MP from the Czech Republic. Fidias Panayiotou, an independent member of the Republic of Cyprus. The Russian media covered

Operation Zorro: Russian special services begin destabilizing Cyprus ahead of elections A covert phase of the parliamentary election campaign has begun in Cyprus. It is being waged not through party programs and debates, but through Russian-language propaganda and street leaflets. On October 2, 2025, the pro-Kremlin website Cyprus Butterfly published a manifesto calling for an “uprising” against the Cypriot authorities. The day before, leaflets with the same text had been han

Russian embassies in most countries stand out from other diplomatic missions because of their inexplicably bloated staff. They look more like military garrisons than embassies. It was the same in Soviet times, when the main job of Soviet embassies was not diplomacy but espionage: building networks of agents of influence, recruiting agents and carrying out sabotage. In this respect nothing has changed in modern Russia. After Russia launched its full-scale aggression against Uk

In late April, European media reported that a 59-year-old Georgian-born man with Greek citizenship had been arrested in the Greek city of Alexandroupolis on charges of spying for Russian military intelligence, the GRU. According to investigators, he was recruited by another Greek citizen, aged 52 and also born in Georgia. Both are Pontic Greeks who moved from Georgia to Greece as soon as this became possible after the collapse of the USSR. Cypriot media, citing police sources

Dmitry Khmelnitsky Boris Demash On October 5, 2023, a diplomatic scandal broke out in Cyprus. Cypriot police arrested Alexander Gasyuk, a correspondent for Rossiyskaya Gazeta, as he sat in a car outside his home in Nicosia. The journalist was pulled out of the car, handcuffed and put into a police vehicle. As the police car began to move, a Russian Embassy employee standing nearby, Dmitry Dvoinikov (the name given in several Russian media reports), threw himself onto its hood

For Soviet and Russian security services, recruitment of foreign nationals was the most important method of work. This practice, which has its roots in the early years of the Bolshevik dictatorship in Russia, remains unchanged today. The recruited agents form extensive networks that become a powerful tool of Moscow’s espionage and political influence. Their tasks include the collection of secret political, economic and military information, as well as the promotion of Russian

A new political party, Elpis (“Hope”), has been set up in Cyprus. One of its main aims, the party says, is to build closer ties with Russia. Its leader, Andreas Theofilaktou, announced this publicly. “Hope is the name of our party. And it is the hope of being with the Russian people again... A lot can happen when you have a united country like Russia on your side. I realize we are a small country, but Cyprus is in a strategic location. It is no accident that the British still

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó’s recent statement about the attack on Druzhba oil pipeline infrastructure drew a strong reaction. Budapest was quick to call it an “attack on sovereignty.” But is there any basis for such loud accusations? Let’s look at the situation more closely. First, the obvious: an attack on pipeline infrastructure is not an attack on Hungary. It is a direct consequence of Russia’s aggression, which has now lasted for years. Druzhba carries Rus