Russia bins report of French Alpine spy base
Russia yesterday dismissed a French newspaper report claiming its spies had operated from a base in the French Alps, saying it was a conspiracy theory aimed at smearing Moscow.
Le Monde reported this month that 15 Russian spies had passed through Haute-Savoie region, close to the Swiss and Italian borders.
The paper said they were members of the 29155 unit of Russia’s GRU military spy agency -- the unit accused of carrying out operations including the attempted poisoning of defector Sergei Skripal in Britain.
“We are compelled with regret to note that the total lack of any proof did not serve as an obstacle for publishing openly Russo-phobic material,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
“We consider the article as disinformation aimed at supporting the myth of the Russian threat in the minds of the European public.”
Le Monde had published a list of 15 Russian members of the unit, which it said added five more names to those already published by online investigative outlets such as Bellingcat and The Insider.
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