Accused of espionage, the Russian blogger openly challenges the state police and comes out with a strong call

The Russian blogger, Svetlana Timofeeva, has spoken about the accusations against her, her acquaintance with the other two suspects as spies Mikail Zorin and Fedir Alpatov.

"I'm not a spy", she says in Albanian, repeating several times in Russian and English that she has been a blogger for 15 years and that she has a blog with many followers where she writes and publishes photos from her travels in different countries of the world.

"It's been my hobby for 20 years, not only to take pictures of these places but also to learn the history of the places I visit and get their content. I have been to 33 countries, to almost all of Europe, to Japan and to several islands in Asia, so to many countries," she said.

Svetlana Timofeeva was arrested on August 20, 2022, together with two other citizens, Mikhail Zorin from Russia and Fedir Alpatov from Ukraine after they tried to enter the premises of the former mechanical weapons factory in Gramsh. All three were arrested by the police and charged with espionage.

"I have proof that I am a photographer, I am a blogger, I am a traveler. They must bring proof that I am a spy. If the police say that I am a spy, they must find the evidence that I am a spy," said Timofeeva.

But what connected the 34-year-old blogger with the other two suspects as Russian spies Mikhail Zorin and Ukrainian Fedir Alpatov?

"I have a hobby relationship with the boys, I know Mikhail better because I have met him several times in Russia and we have been guides in some abandoned places in the Russian Federation. Also in Ukraine, but after the war in Ukraine started, he left for the Czech Republic with studies while I left for Georgia. As for Fedir, the Ukrainian citizen, he is a friend of Mikhail. I don't know him well. I met him when I came to Albania. We are connected by our shared hobby of exploring abandoned places. We did not plan to come to Albania, Mikhail invited me. I cut the tickets because at that time I was living in Georgia, I was in transit from Istanbul. I came to Albania, we met and continued our exploration".