Israel has charged a Russian citizen with spying for Iran, including photographing
Israeli ports and infrastructure under the direction of Iranian intelligence agencies, Israel’s police and its internal security agency said on Friday.
The Russian individual identified as Vitaly Zvyagintsev, who had been living in Israel on a work permit, was then paid in digital currency, the police and agency said in a joint statement. The two were in contact from early October until December 4, when the Russian citizen was arrested at an air force base.
According to The Times of Israel, Zvyagintsev allegedly photographed the ports of Eilat, Haifa and Ashdod, as well as the Herzliya Marina, and sent the documentation to his handler. He also traveled to Nesher Park, a high spot overlooking parts of Haifa, in order to film oil refineries in the city.
He photographed military vessels, including an armed merchant cruiser belonging to the US Navy and a Dolphin-class submarine belonging to the Israeli Navy.
He was paid hundreds of dollars in cryptocurrency for each task, prosecutors say
A decades-long shadow war between Israel and Iran escalated into a direct war in June when Israel struck various targets inside Iran, including through operations that relied on Mossad commandos being deployed deep inside the country.
Israel has arrested dozens of citizens who allegedly spied for Iran, in what sources told Reuters has been Tehran’s biggest effort in decades to infiltrate its arch foe.
The arrests followed repeated efforts by Iranian intelligence operatives over the years to recruit ordinary Israelis to gather intelligence and carry out attacks in exchange for money.
In a statement sent to media in 2024 following a wave of arrests by Israel of Jewish citizens suspected of spying for Iran, Iran’s U.N. mission did not confirm or deny seeking to recruit Israelis and said that “from a logical standpoint” any such efforts by Iranian intelligence services would focus on non-Iranian and non-Muslim individuals to lessen suspicion.
Iran has executed many individuals it accuses of having links with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and facilitating its operations in the country.
