Hearing of Russian spies conducting espionage operations in Europe normally conjures up locations such as Berlin, Vienna or London but never an Edinburgh shopping centre.
But a recent report has uncovered that an alleged ‘illegal’ Russian spy, who was arrested alongside her fellow spook husband in Slovenia in December last year, had been hosting art gallery events in the Scottish capital as recently as last summer. The background to their arrest is bordering on unbelievable and the fact that they visited Edinburgh is a quirky element to the tale.
The Guardian’s Shaun Walker reported last month on the arrest of the spies and delved into the details behind the actions of Maria Mayer and Ludwig Girsch. The couple moved to the sleepy suburbs of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, in 2017, along with their two children.
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It was said that those who knew the couple in Slovenia really liked them but they also commented that they were very unsuspecting and boring, with Mayer being described as a “grey mouse.” Mayer opened an online art gallery, 5’14, which acted as an art portal whilst her husband Girsch ran an IT startup with outdated technology.
Their backstory was that they were Argentinians who had decided to relocate to Slovenia due to rising street crime back in South America. Slovenia appeared to be the perfect setting as it meant that they could travel between countries in the EU with ease and without the fear of being detected by the less sophisticated Slovenian security services.
They are accused of belonging to Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service. Moscow is said to sometimes use so-called ‘illegals’ for paying other undercover operatives as officers working from European embassies could be surveilled and expose sources.
When the family's home was raided during one of the most covert operations in Slovenia's recent history, Balkan authorities uncovered a large stash of cash that took hours to count.
It is unknown if Mayer's visits to Edinburgh were linked to any alleged espionage or if she was merely displaying artworks within Leith’s Ocean Terminal and networking in the capital. It is understood that she visited the capital twice - with one exhibition posted on her LinkedIn channel from June 2021 and another advertised on Instagram in July 2022.
The post does not state when the first exhibition started but it does say that it ended on June 30. The Image Collective posted on its Facebook page advertising both events.
A post on Mayer’s LinkedIn referring to the first Exhibition stated: “We are so excited to announce the opening of the Ocean Photo Exhibition at the Image Collective Gallery, Edinburgh.
“The exhibition, twice delayed, takes on relevance. It features works by 11 artists from four continents and shows what moves the photographers in their search for imagery in a most personal and diverse approach. If you are in the area feel free to pop in and see the exhibition.
“Works by Brut Carniollus, Yovanis González, Kathleen Gulley, Jozef Macak, Melissa Robertson, Julian Manjahi, Serge Melesan, Barbara Gamberger, Jacques Vermeulen, Yung-Sen Wu, Cyril Delapraz, Emmanuel Ogundipe, Jure Kralj. The exhibition takes place till June 30.”
The second exhibition took place last summer from July 1-30. On Instagram, Mayer said: "We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for visiting our ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHY Exhibition. We hope you enjoyed it!
"Thank you to the artists who believed in us and participated in our project. Thank you for allowing us to exhibit our work in your gallery space and form connections with people near and far.
"The exhibition gave us the opportunity to highlight artists from different continents and, through their photographs, environmental problems. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or feedback that you would like to share.
"We are looking forward to seeing you again. The Art Gallery 5'14 Team."
A Slovenian photographer from the city of Maribor, who spoke to the Guardian, had this to say about Mayer and the Edinburgh exhibition: “She was super friendly. She put me in her web gallery, and she also exhibited my work in Edinburgh. This was huge for me, because I rarely get a chance to exhibit my work abroad.”
In late January, news organisations in Slovenian broke the story of their arrest, and said that the pair were believed to be linked to Russian intelligence. The couple's two children were also said to have been taken into care.
The Guardian reports that Mayer and Girsch were identified as elite Russian spies known as ‘illegals.’ They say that although there are a number of ‘legal’ Russian spies in embassies around the world, the ‘illegals’ often operate without visible links to Moscow or their diplomats.
Walker, who is writing a book on Russian ‘illegal’ spies, said that those operating in these roles can spend years training, often studying school books and local areas to build complex backstories of their new national identities, so that they can then intricately impersonate foreigners in order to gather intelligence.
He adds that many of them are active in the field with children who do not know about their parents true identities. After the invasion of Ukraine took place, he says that a number of western countries chucked out ‘legal’ spies which meant that Russia may have become more reliant on people such as Mayer.
Walker said in his report that: “It is hard to say with certainty what kind of activities the Slovenia-based couple might have been carrying out for the SVR, but there may be clues in their work and travel patterns.”
Janez Stušek, who was the director of Slovenia’s Sova intelligence agency until June last year told the Guardian: “I believe that the Chinese are mostly interested in economic issues, but for the Russians it’s also political, about the EU and Nato.”
“Illegals were always on the agenda, but of course after the invasion the level of attention on this topic has gone up.”
Russia is said to have taken ownership for the spies and it is believed that back channels have been set up for a potential prisoner swap with Slovenia or other western countries.
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