DEEP COVER
Putin’s spies caught working at Nato HQ in humiliating intelligence breach – and they’ve been active in Europe for YEARS
It comes after Ukraine warned Germany is 'riddled with Russian spies'
SPIES for Vladimir Putin have been caught working at the Nato headquarters in a humiliating intelligence breach.
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg revealed Russian snoops have been active in Europe for years.
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He said the Russian secret agents have been thrown out of the HQ in Brussels, Belgium, after their deception was uncovered.
The Nato Secretary General told Bild: "We have expelled Russian personnel from Nato headquarters.
"In fact, we found that they were conducting activities that were not actually diplomatic work, but intelligence work.
"The Nato allies have done similar things. This is an issue that is being raised among Nato allies.”
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Stoltenberg added that Putin's spies "have been active in European countries for many years."
But he insisted more would be done to combat Russian agents infiltrating Nato.
He said: "We are taking some measures to make it more difficult for Russian intelligence services to carry out illegal activities between or within Nato allies.
"So as soon as we stand together, we are safe."
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It comes after Ukraine warned Germany is "riddled with Russian spies".
Ukrainian national security adviser Oleksiy Danilov said they were "vulnerable" to espionage.
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He told The Times: "We have made multiple warnings to our German partners about the spy network of Russians that are very active in Germany.
"It is well known the Russians are listening to conversations of German officials and we think this is not the last conversation they have."
Meanwhile, it is feared there are likely hundreds of spies based in the UK and hiding in Suburbia - and are nearly impossible to spot.
Sleeper agents are living seemingly innocuous lives, blending into neighbourhoods all while helping to facilitate espionage activities.
To a typical neighbour or local resident, living next to or near a spy is seemingly implausible - especially when their actions are seemingly normal.
But given the sheer volume of agents operating in Britain, there are some telltale signs worth knowing, experts have said.
These include particular vehicles to look out for, as well as other key indicators such as the visitors making their way into the Suburban homes.
Five suspected Russian spies, Bulgarian nationals Orlin Roussev, Bizer Dzhambazov, Katrin Ivanova, Ivan Stoyanov, and Vanya Gaberova, are currently awaiting trial in the UK accused of espionage.
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A former Russian spy previously claimed to The Sun that there were at least four Russian agents working in Westminster.
Boris Karpichkov, 62, said: "I know of four sleepers of Russian security services.
"There are several Parliament-sponsored organisations operating in Westminster directly linked to Russian security service operations."
While Russian spies operating in the West may feel like something from a James Bond film, in recent years Britain's closest US has found themselves rooting out agents working for Putin.
Maria Butina was found to have been acting as a spy and attempting to steer US politics as she embedded herself in Washington DC.
She was jailed in 2018 before being deported back to Russia, where she is now a member of Putin's parliament - the State Duma.
And then Russian model Anna Chapman, the daughter of a KGB official, was arrested in 2010 after she is suspected to have worked as an agent in the US.
She was given back to the Kremlin regime as part of a spy swap deal along with nine other suspected agents.
Among those agents was Vladimir and Lidiya Guryev - who lived in New Jersey with their two daughters, 11 and nine, under the aliases of Richard and Cynthia Murphy.
The couple attempted to influence US politics, with Lidiya going after an associate of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid in 2008.
Another couple with children was also part of the spy swap - Mikhail Kutsik and Nataliya Pereverzeva, also known as Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills.
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The duo were rumbled as they claimed be from America and Canada despite their thick accents - and they operated by received coded radio transmissions.
What is Nato?
THE North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is a political and military alliance of countries from North America and Europe.
It was founded in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union with Cold War tensions rising.
Among articles in its found treaty is the principle of collective defence - the idea that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all of them.
Nato takes decisions by consensus but the political and military strength of the United States means that it is by far the most powerful country in the alliance.
Its nuclear arsenal is seen as the ultimate security guarantee.
Nato has 31 members - most of them European nations, plus the United States and Canada.
The newest member is Finland, which joined last April in reaction to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Sweden applied to join along with Finland but is waiting for Hungary to ratify its application as the final major step before membership.