Slovakia has charged a former military academy officer and another man with espionage for Russia, police and a special prosecutor said on Tuesday.
The NATO member bordering Ukraine, detained four people suspected of spying for Moscow and expelled three Russian diplomats in response, according to Bloomberg.
Russia paid the suspects “tens of thousands of euros” for sensitive or classified information, Special Prosecutor Daniel Lipsic said on Tuesday, a day after the detentions and the diplomats’ expulsion.
“Two people were charged, including the former deputy head of the military academy in the northern city Liptovsky Mikulas, who confessed to receiving financial reward for providing information to Russia’s GRU military intelligence service since 2013,” said acting Police President Stefan Hamran.
“The investigation will reveal to what extent the interests of the Slovak Republic or the NATO alliance were endangered,” added Hamran.
The other person facing charges is a contributor to the website Hlavne Spravy, which Slovak authorities have labeled a vehicle for spreading disinformation. Authorities said the other two detained, a former member of the Slovak intelligence agency and a lawmaker’s assistant had also helped secure sensitive information for Russia. They were released.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that the expulsion of its diplomats “would not go unanswered.”