Russian GRU operatives posed as rights activists, journalists, filmmakers — The Insider
Operatives from the Russian GRU 29155 unit (military intelligence unit), responsible for staging explosions and poisonings across Europe, had posed as Russian human rights activists, journalists, and filmmakers, the Russian news outlet The Insider reported on Feb. 5.
Ivan Zhigarev, a member of the GRU's secret 29155 unit, was recruited by the Russian intelligence agency no later than 2009. Under false documents, Zhigarev traveled abroad in small GRU groups until 2017, including during the planning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal's poisonings in Salisbury.
The GRU created a fake persona for Zhigarev to conceal his identity — "Ivan Zhikharev," a professional geologist and activist, investigators said.
"Zhikharev" infiltrated the Moscow School of Human Rights at the Sakharov Center and became its most active volunteer in 2017. He participated in all meetings, including campaigns supporting imprisoned human rights activists, regularly took part in Garry Kasparov's Free Russia forums, and was part of the sanctions working group chat. However, "Zhikharev" appeared more focused on “pressing ecological issues.”
School activists said "Zhikharev" last contacted them in 2021. After the French government published his name alongside other GRU officers who had visited a Russian intelligence base in France, journalists speculate he may have been forced out of action.
Colonel Maxim Rodionov, another employee of 29155 unit, posed as a documentary filmmaker "Maxim Smirnov," a member of the Guild of Non-Fiction Cinema. "Smirnov" co-founded the video production studio Tomiris, which filmed "interviews" with Russian neo-Nazi Nikolay Zaitsev-Birdyukin about the supposed "danger" of homosexuality, "demonism, sadism, and pedophilia." The investigators suggest Tomiris may have provided cover for Rodionov to organize events involving international delegations, including a round table with North Korean representatives and a conference on nuclear non-proliferation in Kazakhstan.
Konstantin Medvedev, the third member of 29155 unit, did not use a pseudonym. His GRU cover story was that he was a foreign correspondent for their magazine "Marine Insurance" — which also listed coup plotter Vladimir Moiseyev ("Popov") as a contributor. Medvedev was also listed as a writer for the now-defunct newspaper Tribuna, although its last editor told investigators he did not remember employing him.
"While Medvedev's precise actions are unclear, his number shows up in phone calls with Andrey Averyanov, commander of 29155 military unit, as well as with Yegor Gordienko, an undercover diplomat, and many others," the investigators said.
Medvedev received 45 million rubles (over €500,000) in dividends from Sberbank and VTB in 2021 for his work. This amount is nearly 1,000 times the average annual salary of 50,000 rubles (€500) for an officer in the Russian military, The Insider said.
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