The Most Unprecedented Espionage Story of the Third Millennium in Estonia
One of the most astonishing espionage stories of recent decades has unfolded in Eastern Europe. The story of a Russian spy who has now sought asylum in Estonia is so strange that perhaps the Russians themselves will not feel the blow dealt to them, due to the bewildering twists and turns of this story, for some time.
Artem Zinchenko is a Russian spy who worked for a long time for the GRU, the security and intelligence structure of the Russian military. Five years ago, he was the first Russian spy that the Estonian government managed to capture. This was a significant achievement, and Estonia had finally been able to identify a Russian agent and arrest him before he could flee to Russia.
Zinchenko was exchanged with an Estonian prisoner held in Moscow, and now he has been seeking asylum in Estonia for some time. Eventually, after some time following Zinchenko’s defection from Russia and his collaboration with Estonia, the news of this event has been released. Zinchenko is now effectively a collaborator with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.