MEP Zhdanok sent reports to FSB employees

Member of the European Parliament from Latvia, Tatiana Zhdanok, actively corresponded with Russian citizens who are allegedly FSB employees, and in particular sent them reports on her activities. This is confirmed in an investigation by the Bellingcat group and The Insider publication with the participation of Estonian, Latvian and Swedish journalists. The authors of the investigation directly claim that Zhdanok, who takes a pro-Russian position, cooperates with the FSB.

The investigation is based on the hacked electronic correspondence of Zhdanok. The authors call her “curator” a certain Dmitry Gladey, who, according to them, was an employee of the St. Petersburg FSB. His affiliation with the Russian special service is ascertained by journalists, referring to numerous databases, including access to guest rooms.

The authors traced Zhdanok’s correspondence with Glade from 2005, when she sent him documents about planned events in Estonia. Judging by the correspondence, Zhdanok met Glade quite regularly in Europe and in Moscow. The content of the correspondence, as a rule, consisted of Zhdanok’s stories about her activities in Europe, usually connected with criticism of the authorities of the Baltic countries for their policy towards Russia and the Russian-speaking residents of these countries. The letters also included a request to allocate funds – for example, about 6 thousand dollars for the purchase of St. George’s ribbons and other paraphernalia for Victory Day in 2010.

In a conversation with The Insider, Zhdanok called Gladey her good friend, but denied that she knew he was an FSB employee.

According to the investigation, after 2013, instead of Gladey, Zhdanok sent reports with similar content to a certain Sergey Krasyn. It is claimed that FSB officer Sergei Beltyukov was hiding under this name. It is also claimed that the member of the European Parliament asked to issue a Schengen visa to another alleged FSB employee, Artyom Kureev.

In a comment for the Latvian publication Re:Baltica, Zhdanok did not deny the authenticity of the e-mails on which the investigation of The Insider and Bellingcat is based, but refused to comment on their content, noting that access to these e-mails was obtained illegally. The State Security Service of Latvia stated that they can analyze letters sent after 2016 for possible violations of the law.

The mandate of Zhdanok, a member of the European Parliament, expires this year. Earlier, she was expelled from the European faction “Greens” after refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.