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Kremlin not confirming claim suspected CIA spy had access to Russian intelligence data

11 September 2019 14:26 (UTC +04:00)

Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated on 11 September that the Kremlin cannot confirm if Oleg Smolenkov, who has been dubbed a CIA spy in the media, had access to intelligence reports during his work in the Russian government. Peskov, however, recalled that although Smolenkov worked in the presidential administration, he was a low-ranking official, APA reports citing Sputnik.

The Kremlin earlier confirmed that alleged US spy Smolenkov, who was purportedly evacuated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2017, had indeed worked in the presidential administration, but in minor positions.

The Kremlin's spokesman also couldn't confirm if Smolenkov had indeed been recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to spy on the Russian government and president.

"We know that there was such an official and that he was fired. We don't know whether he was or was not a [US] spy", Peskov said.