Russian spies under false names — Maria Mayer and Ludwig Gish — were detained in Slovenia. They allegedly came from Argentina with two children.
The Guardian writes about it.
Mayer opened an online gallery, and Gish ran an IT startup. They told friends that fear of street crime in Argentina had forced them to move to Europe.
However, in December 2022, this very couple became the targets of one of Sloveniaʼs most secret joint police and intelligence operations.
At the end of January, Slovenian media reported on arrests linked to Russian intelligence. Sources in Ljubljana told reporters that "Maria and Ludwig" were actually elite Russian spies. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, confirmed this information on March 23. According to her, the arrested are actually Russian citizens, not Argentines.
The Russians worked under the "sleeper agents" program. Unlike other Russian spies, who masquerade as diplomats in Russian embassies around the world, "sleeper agents" operate without any apparent ties to Moscow. They are trained to impersonate foreigners and then sent abroad to gather intelligence. Many of them have children who are raised in disguised identities, unaware that their parents are actually Russian.
The Guardianʼs sources claim that the man and woman spied for Russiaʼs GRU.
- In March 2023, Polish services exposed a spy network that worked for Russia. The group was to prepare for sabotage in the country.