Police Busted Two Russian Spy “Plumbers” At Davos

The Daily Beast reports:

Police in Switzerland reportedly uncovered a Russian spying operation in Davos, where world leaders are meeting this week for the annual World Economic Forum. Police arrested two Russian men in the Alpine town last August after they were alerted to their suspiciously long stay in the resort.

The men had allegedly claimed diplomatic protections, but had not officially been registered. Swiss police and federal officials suspected that the two Russian men were intelligence agents posing as plumbers in order to bug the town with surveillance equipment.

The Guardian reports:

“We did not receive any information about this from Swiss authorities. There is no evidence of spying,” Russian embassy spokesman Stanislav Smirnov said. “I don’t rule out that it may have been people with Russian diplomatic passports – they do not necessarily need to be accredited in Switzerland,” Smirnov said.

Asked why one of the men had claimed to be a plumber, Smirnov said it may have been a “stupid joke” by the man. Tages Anzeiger said the men may have been preparing a wiretapping or hacking operation in Davos, and cited several sources saying that Russian officials “threatened diplomatic consequences if the men were arrested”.