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David Ballantyne Smith worked as a security guard for the diplomatic legation in Germany. The former Royal Air Force member pleaded guilty to charges of selling secrets to the Kremlin. The spy was discovered thanks to a counterintelligence operation called ‘Sting’.
Like an espionage novel in the times of the cold war, the operations return, captures and subsequent conviction of those who decide to provide sensitive information to the counterpart in conflict. This Friday, February 17, the British Justice sentenced a former security guard of the diplomatic representation of the United Kingdom in Germany for spying for Russia between 2018 and 2021.
The legation worker, identified as David Ballantyne Smith, 58, pleaded guilty. He argued that his betrayal was driven by depression and a desire to “teach the embassy a lesson” over alleged mistreatment he was subjected to at the compound.
Mark Wall, the sentencing judge, was unmoved by Ballantyne’s account. On the contrary, he reprimanded him and exposed his vision of the facts on the table: “He was paid for his betrayal, and he was motivated by his antipathy towards this country and had the intention of damaging the interests of this nation by acting as he did,” the magistrate pointed out.
According to Wall, David Ballantyne Smith helped the Russians identify the members of the representative mission by sending photos to his contact. Each of them was accompanied by a description, which put those indicated at “maximum risk”.
Among other information provided, Smith revealed the operation of the embassy and its design, extremely sensitive data.
For their part, the prosecutors in the process added that Ballantyne Smith, a former member of the British Royal Air Force, was the recipient of various types of Russian propaganda product. They even claimed that a caricature of Russian President Vladimir Putin was found in his work locker, encircling former German Chancellor Angela Merkel with his hands.
“His actions were not only driven by money and greed (…) On multiple occasions, he expressed strong dislike for the UK, Germany and expressed sympathy for the Russian authorities. These beliefs may have caused further damage if Smith had not been discovered and prosecuted,” concluded Nick Price, head of the Special Crimes and Counter-Terrorism Division at the Crown Prosecution Service.
The former security guard was sentenced to 13 years in prison for violating the Official Secrets Law and spying for more than three years for the Russian state.
Operation ‘Stinger’
The counterintelligence operation to find the origin of the data leak began with the discovery of a letter with “highly confidential information” sent by the spy. In it, David provided the information of the members of the representation and attached some documents written by the person in charge of Russia of the delegation.
This brought the British intelligence service into the picture, focusing on an alleged Russian collaborator of the embassy identified as ‘Dmitry’. As a result, a second actor was involved: ‘Irina’.
The purpose of ‘Irina’ was to show that Smith was in contact with a Russian receiver. The methodology used was to alert the former security guard that she had provided information damaging to Moscow, which would immediately expose the informant.
Everything was recorded, and Ballantyne’s response was defining for the case: “I need to talk to someone. And then once that person can confirm something, I’m willing to meet again.”
One day after the exchange with ‘Irina’, David Ballantyne Smith was arrested.
With Reuters and AP
