A Libyan government source revealed new details about the case of what it describes as the "Russian spies" of the leader of Wagner, who have been detained in Libya since May 2019, which Moscow says are academic researchers working for a research institution.
"The Libyan intelligence services transmitted the communication about the case of the two spies, Maxim Shogali and Samer Seifan, to the Public Prosecution Office, on charges of committing acts harmful to the security of the state," the government source said in a statement published by the government, "Operation Berkane Fury", on its Facebook account.
The statement added, "It was found that the reasons for the entry of Shogali and Seifan to Libya contradict the reasons mentioned in the Libyan visa."
He pointed out that "Shogali and Saifan work for the Russian-owned company Vlevsky Struff, Yevgeni Prevogen, and it is run by the Russian Peter Bystrov."
According to the statement, the two spies "sent daily reports to their chiefs that focused on the military and economic situation in Libya, and they met with the wanted justice Saif Gaddafi more than once" without detailing the timing of the meetings.
The government source revealed in the statement that "Struv company is working to support what is needed for justice Saif Gaddafi, in any upcoming presidential elections, and to influence the municipal elections to nominate loyalists to Russia."
He also said, "The two spies worked to recruit Libyans to collect information and train them to work in the future to influence the Libyan elections."
The government official added that Shogali and Saifan also had "Alexander Prokofiev, Constantine and Alexander", without elaborating.
He noted that they "forged seals of companies to complete financial procedures ... and a lot of information was found in documents, computers and spy phones are still under investigation."
The statement pointed out that "the strategic work of espionage is to win a Russian military base in Libya and prevent the United States from establishing a base for it, and control the Libyan oil and gas industry."
Russian denial
The statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, last Wednesday, stressed the need to release Shogali and Seifan, stressing that their continued detention in a prison in Tripoli constitutes the biggest obstacle to developing cooperation between the two countries.
It is noteworthy that the Russian government has previously defended its citizens as academic researchers working for a research institution.
However, the Libyan government leaked documents it said showed that the aforementioned were working for the Wagner security company.