José Assis Giammaria from Brazil was working as a visiting researcher at UiT Norway’s Arctic University in Tromsø when he was arrested by PST in October 2022. PST suspected that the man had a false identity, and that he is a so-called illegalist from Russia. In December last year, he confirmed for the first time himself that he is Russian, and his real name is Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin (45). There is a historic exchange underway between Russia and the West, coordinated by the Turkish Security Service (MIT), according to Reuters and TASS. According to a statement from the president’s office in Turkey, 26 prisoners are involved. Now Mikushin will also be part of this plan, according to the independent Russian website The insider russia. news has not received this confirmation from the Norwegian authorities. The Insider engages in investigative journalism and is considered credible. They write that in exchange for journalists, human rights activists and a former US marine, Western countries have agreed to hand over Mikhail Mikushin – and seven other Russian prisoners in the West. State-controlled RT also reports that eight Russians are part of the exchange. – PST has no comment on the information, says senior adviser Martin Bernsen in the Police’s security service to news. – I have tried to get in touch with my client today, but have not received a reply. I cannot confirm or deny the information, says Mikusjin’s defender Marijana Lozic. Trial scheduled for September Mikusjin is accused and charged with aggravated espionage against state secrets, which carries a penalty of up to ten years. He has been in custody in Kongsvinger prison. The case against Mikusjin was fully investigated by PST in April. They believe he can be convicted for what he was charged with. It is the national state prosecutor’s office that was to bring charges against him, and time was set aside in the Oslo District Court from 17 September to 25 October for the trial. Last spring, CNN pointed out that Mikusjin could be relevant in a possible prisoner exchange. According to the media house, the American authorities must have contacted Norway, among other things, to find Russians who could be relevant in an exchange. Mikusjin had no family in Tromsø, and lived in a rented house. He was arrested on his way to work. Has gone to spy school According to the Bellingcat digging network, the accused spy graduated from the GRU’s spy school in 2006. The GRU is Russia’s military intelligence, known for, among other things, training spies who can operate as illegals in other countries. In the same year that Mikushin graduated from this school, he obtained citizenship in Brazil, claiming that he had a Brazilian mother, according to the Russian dig network Insider. Three years after Mikusjin finished spy school, news finds the first digital traces of Mikusjin’s new life. Here at the Center for Peace Studies at UiT Norway’s Arctic University, Mikhail Mikusjin worked. Photo: Rune N. Andreassen Denies Russian assistance Mikusjin has, according to PST, received consular assistance from the Russian embassy. PST informs news that personnel from the Russian embassy have visited Mikushin on two occasions. But the Russian embassy denies this. – The consular department at the embassy has no information that José Assis Giammaria belongs to Russian citizenship, the Russian embassy wrote in an e-mail to news after he himself confirmed his identity. – In this context, no consular assistance is provided to him. Published 01.08.2024, at 15.54 Updated 01.08.2024, at 16.58
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Suspected spy Mikhail Mikushin is to be in a prisoner exchange with Russia – news Troms and Finnmark
