Tirana has accused two Russians and a Ukrainian of spying. Friends of Lana Sator insist that she was only exploring a military base for her popular blog, while Albanian police claim a man traveling with her has “admitted” to spying.
On August 20, Albania’s Defense Ministry announced that two Russian nationals and a Ukrainian had been arrested around a factory in Gramsh, central Albania, that once produced Kalashnikov assault rifles.
The news shot around the world, with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama referring to the two men and one woman as being “suspected of espionage.” Dramatic details emerged of a “neo-paralyzing spray” used on soldiers trying to detain one of the men.
Today, friends of Svetlana Timofeeva, one of Russia’s most famous urban explorers, who goes by the pseudonym Lana Sator, confirmed to RFE/RL that she is among the three people who were arrested, and remains in custody.
Sator is known for her spectacular images from inside sometimes tightly guarded military sites. In 2012, she snuck into a Russian rocket factory and posted striking images from its interior. Sator has been based in Georgia since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Pavel Ogorodnikov, a Russian blogger and friend of Sator who is also based in Georgia, insists that she is no spy. He last spoke to her on August 20, shortly before her arrest.
“She has 250,000 Instagram followers, has given interviews to many foreign websites, and has publicly spoken out against the war. I don’t think spies behave like that,” Ogorodnikov said.
The two men arrested with Sator are Mikhail Zorin, 23, from Russia, and Fedir Mykhaylov, from Ukraine.
According to a spokesperson from the district prosecutor’s office in Elbasan, the three are facing charges that include securing and passing on “secret information.”
A police report seen by RFE/RL's Balkan Service suggests that the visit to the Gramsh factory was Zorin's idea. The report claims that Sator and Mykhaylov had decided against attempting to enter the factory, but Zorin went ahead alone.
After Zorin attempted to hop the fence around the factory, two soldiers tried to detain him. During the scuffle, the Russian national allegedly used pepper spray.
The report claims that Zorin “admitted” to being an informant for Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and was tasked with sending photos of military facilities and “critical infrastructure” to Russia. Supporters of Sator have questioned what military value the long-disused factory could have for foreign powers.
Albanian Defense Minister Niko Peleshi says that the violence allegedly used by Zorin means Tirana’s investigation “in the wider regional and political context” will be thorough. Albania has been a NATO member since 2009 and has joined most other European countries in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian urban explorer Ogorodnikov says the “neo-paralyzing spray” is a violent last resort employed by some hard-core urban-exploration teams.
“Sometimes explorers use pepper spray against security if they [are about to be] caught. This is not supported in our movement, but sometimes someone might do it,” he says, adding, “I know for sure Lana would never support the use [of pepper spray].”
Although the factory where the three were detained was not in use, it is still guarded as the property of Albania's military. The Balkan country is well-known in urban exploration, or urbex, circles for its communist-era ruins. In March 2019, Sator celebrated her 30th birthday inside an underground Albanian weapons factory by photographing a handful of apparently live bullets.
On August 21, in what appears to be an unrelated incident, four Czech nationals were detained at the Polican military plant, 60 kilometers south of Gramsh.
