In 2019, U.S. media claimed that a "Russian official recruited by the U.S." fled Russia at the request of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Recent disclosures from Russian sources reveal that this spy was exposed due to proactive efforts by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
On December 11, Russia’s popular online news outlet Lenta reported that in 2017, Lavrov outmaneuvered the CIA, forcing the exposure of a U.S. spy embedded within the Kremlin. The report suggests that after a meeting between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and Lavrov, American authorities ordered the evacuation of a key intelligence operative from Russia. It is speculated that Trump inadvertently revealed classified information during the talks, indirectly exposing the Kremlin insider.
Andrey Popov, a retired lieutenant colonel of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and member of the veterans' association of the elite "Alpha Group," disclosed these details, stating: "This was a brilliant operation led by our intelligence services, with Lavrov executing the plan."
Popov theorized that Lavrov’s strategy involved provoking the CIA into withdrawing their spy: "The tactic was to create specific conditions and deliberately leak information to agitate the CIA until they panicked and exposed their agent."
In September 2019, CNN reported that a "high-value U.S. intelligence asset within the Russian government" had fled Russia with his family in 2017, describing him as "one of the most valuable spies embedded in the Russian government." Other U.S. outlets, including The New York Times, claimed the CIA had recruited a mid-level Russian official years earlier, who later gained access to top Kremlin leadership and even Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian media later identified the spy as Oleg Smolenkov, who was reportedly dismissed from his position in the Russian Presidential Executive Office shortly after the Trump-Lavrov meeting and subsequently fled Russia with his family. However, Russian officials denied Smolenkov held a high-ranking role or had access to Putin.
U.S. media suggested the CIA considered Smolenkov a "critical asset," but as investigations into alleged Russian interference in U.S. elections intensified, the agency feared his exposure and ordered his evacuation. Smolenkov initially resisted but eventually left Russia in 2017, dealing a significant blow to CIA intelligence-gathering on Russian leadership.
After departing Russia, Smolenkov and his family vacationed in Montenegro in June 2017 before disappearing. Later that year, Russian authorities opened a murder investigation. In 2018, a person sharing his surname purchased property in Virginia, U.S.
Russian business daily Kommersant reported that Smolenkov, born in 1969, had worked in Russia’s Foreign Ministry and served as a second secretary at the Russian Embassy in Washington. Before leaving Russia, he was a senior advisor in the Presidential Executive Office’s foreign policy department.
The Kremlin has never officially acknowledged Smolenkov’s alleged espionage or disclosed the reasons for his dismissal. In September 2019, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Smolenkov had worked in the Kremlin but was fired years earlier, clarifying that his role did not involve direct contact with the president.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated in 2019 that Moscow had requested information from the U.S. on Smolenkov’s whereabouts and filed an Interpol notice regarding his disappearance. She dismissed media reports about Russian spies as "classic U.S. election propaganda."
Interpol declined to comment on Russia’s request, citing confidentiality in bilateral cooperation.
Russian intelligence historian Gennady Sokolov noted conflicting theories about Smolenkov’s fate: some believe he remains in hiding, others suspect he was eliminated, and some claim the U.S. still uses him for political attacks against Trump.
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