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CNN says US extracted top-level spy from Russia shortly after May 2017 mtg. A Russian media outlet says Russian official Oleg Smolenkov, his wife and 3 children disappeared "without a trace" during vacation to Montenegro in June 2017. dailystorm.ru/news/sotrudnik…
The Russian article describes Smolenkov as a "state adviser to the Russian Federation" and says he "worked at the Russian Embassy in the United States, when Yuri Ushakov, now Assistant to the President of Russia, was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Washington"
Could these two events be related? Unclear, but CNN reporting that the extraction occurred shortly after May 2017 would help lead Russian government to identity of spy, if not already known. But if Smolenkov was the spy, the Russian gov likely already knew it before CNN story
NBC is now reporting that the Russian spy extracted in 2017 by the CIA has been living under his own name in the Washington DC area. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/p…
"An NBC News correspondent went to the man’s house in the Washington area and rang the doorbell. Five minutes later, two young men in an SUV came racing up the street and parked immediately adjacent to the correspondent’s car."
"NBC News has not confirmed that the Russian living in Virginia fed the CIA information about Russian election interference. But for reasons that NBC News is withholding, he fits the profile of someone who may have had access to information about Putin’s activities"
"Two former FBI officials told NBC News they believe he is the source referred to in the CNN and New York Times report. The Russian will likely be moved from the place he is currently living in the interest of keeping him safe, current and former officials said."
And here's a Russian outlet today now identifying the Russian spy by name - it's the same person identified in the 2017 article which reported that he and his family disappeared in Montenegro in June 2017 (h/t @zachsdorfman) kommersant.ru/doc/4087921
@zachsdorfman The Russian story says there was initially a murder investigation after the family disappeared in Montenegro, and the investigation stopped and resumed several times. "But in the end, investigators and FSB officers found that the alleged victims were alive and in another country"
