“Maria Tsalla”: Who is the Russian spy “with the crochet” (video-photos)

With the Soviet, Cold War tactics of illegals, in 2018 the Russian Irina Alexandrovna-Smireva appeared in Attica and requested Greekization – as the daughter of an expatriate – with the name “Maria Tsalla“, a name that belonged to a dead infant since December 1991.

Since then and until a few days ago – when her action was revealed by the EYP – the kind Maria had the profile of the woman next door – a small shop with knitting items in Pagration Arrianou Street, a typical apartment, partner and active social media – except that in all her posts she hid half her face, she said with knitted accessories or with the camera, since she also declared herself a photographer.

For five years, Irina – about 35 years old, the exact date of birth is unclear – successfully fooled everyone around her, even her partner, who fell from the clouds when he learned that his Maria was a Russian spy and even married to another Russian – also a spy – who was on assignment in Brazil, under the false identity of Daniel Campos.

Milena Apostolaki: “She was an everyday girl”

Former minister Milena Apostolaki was a neighbor of the Russian spy, whom she naturally knew as Maria Tsalla, as they lived in the same apartment building and met at the entrance of the apartment building and exchanged formal greetings.

“I was drawn to her shop, Galazio, as it was quite… alternative. I was thinking, how does this store even make ends meet? All this time no one had ever entered this shop. So when it closed in January it didn’t make any impression on me.”

She was an everyday girl who made no impression on her

We are all confused, I literally fell from the clouds yesterday when we found out what is going on”

The countdown to its disclosure began with the detection of an attempt by a third country to access the data of deceased Greek citizens, an internationally recognized practice of Russia’s Intelligence Services to create the special category of spies nicknamed “illegals”.

EYP began to unravel the tangle but Irina caught up and returned to Russia before it was fully revealed. In January she told her boyfriend she was going to her hometown for a few days for family matters and never came back.

At the same time, the Russian intelligence services also recalled her “Brazilian” husband to Moscow.

However, so far, Irina appears to have been acting as a spy independently, without appearing to have any contact with the Russian embassy in Athens.