{
  "id": 4030105,
  "title": "A familiar business: Russia’s trade missions are replacing GRU spies with the friends and relatives of influential officials",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/a-familiar-business-russias-trade-missions-are-replacing-gru-spies",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-28T20:05:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Insider",
    "slug": "the-insider",
    "url": "https://theins.press/en/inv/296557"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Austria, Russia's trade representative had his position revoked in August 2025. The removal of 67-year-old Andrei Plotnikov, a former military intelligence officer, was said to be due to his contract expiring. Plotnikov, who had been in Austria for four years, was not only a colonel but also the deputy GRU station chief in Vienna. He oversaw the Russian-Austrian Business Council, which ceased operations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.\n\nPlotnikov's espionage activities extended to local politicians, journalists, and top business figures. He wrote a book, \"The Mystery of Rudolf Hess’s Death: A Warden's Diary,\" about the late former close Hitler associate Rudolf Hess. Following the Insider's reporting on high-profile spy scandals, Austrian authorities have tightened surveillance on Russian diplomats and journalists.\n\nIn Vienna, the Foreign Ministry rejected all trade representative candidates proposed by Moscow. Artem Klimentyev, Russia's trade representative in Austria, was appointed, though his mother, Svetlana, has significant ties to financial circles and the Russian economy. Despite the reshuffle, trade turnover between Austria and Russia continues to decline, with a 74% decrease year-on-year in 2025.\n\nAcross the globe, in Algeria, Ivan Nalich, another GRU officer, was also removed from his position as trade representative. Nalich, a career GRU officer, has a history of espionage, having worked in North Africa for eight years and built a network of contacts among military officers, officials, and public figures. His grandfather served in the KGB. Nalich's role in Algeria, the \"gateway to Africa,\" further highlights the extensive reach of Russia's trade missions in the region.",
  "summary": "Russian trade missions operate in more than 50 countries, and around a third of their staff are career military intelligence officers whose superiors do not work at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, but at GRU headquarters. The spies are tasked with assignments far removed from international commerce. According to a source, Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov convinced Putin to…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "BBC World",
        "title": "Russia ramps up rhetoric but wants to avoid war with Nato, Western officials say",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/russia-ramps-up-rhetoric-but-wants-to-avoid-war-with-nato-western",
        "published": "2026-08-28T19:05:23.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Meduza (English)",
        "title": "Bloomberg: European officials doubt the CIA chief’s Moscow trip was mainly about an attack on NATO",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/bloomberg-european-officials-doubt-the-cia-chiefs-moscow-trip-was",
        "published": "2026-08-28T21:32:42.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}