Norwegian police arrested a documented “Brazilian researcher” working in the country who is suspected of being a Russian spy.
If confirmed to be a Russian spy, the researcher would be the first Russian deep-cover agent caught operating in a Nordic country, according to the Financial Times. The academic, working under the name Jose Assis Giammaria, as employees at the university told the Guardian, worked at one of Norway’s most prestigious universities, considered the foremost in Arctic studies. His work focused on irregular warfare and disinformation campaigns. Authorities believe he may have built up an extensive spy network at a time when police have made several major busts targeting Russian espionage following the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Giammaria denies all the charges.
“We have asked that a Brazilian researcher at the University of Tromsø be expelled from Norway as we believe he represents a threat to fundamental national interests,” Hedvig Moe, deputy head of the Police Security Service (PST), told NRK.
“[PST] is worried that he may have built up a network and information about Norway’s policy in the far north. Even if this network or information is not piece by piece a threat to the country’s security, we are worried that the information could be misused by Russia,” Moe also said, according to the Financial Times.
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The suspected spy worked at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, the world’s northernmost university, which specializes in Arctic studies. Specifically, he worked with the Grey Zone, a group described on the university’s website as focusing “on multiple challenges around understanding and addressing ‘grey zone’ or hybrid threats and warfare … We address different ways of managing possible threats, crises and warfare including local preparedness and societal trust, national preparedness strategies, Total Defense, and Whole-of-Government and Comprehensive Approaches.”
Giammaria is still listed as a member of the group, and his employee page is still up, albeit with sparse information, only giving his name and contact details and listing his membership in the Grey Zone and WarPed, a group “examining the diverse issues and challenges related to war and peace dynamics.”
Colleagues speaking with the Guardian described Giammaria as “friendly” but highly paranoid.
“He said he was against social media, and didn’t even want to use WhatsApp, he only wanted to talk on Telegram,” one colleague said, speaking anonymously. “At the same time, he asked a lot of questions, including questions of personal nature as well.”
Another colleague said that he does not believe Giammaria obtained access to classified material but would have been able to gauge other valuable information.
“But he did get an understanding and insights into the sort of discussions and debates that we are having about security. He was at the place where important research was happening,” a colleague told the news outlet.
His mysterious background and suspicious behavior drew the attention of his colleagues, one of whom once jokingly asked him if he was a spy. His Brazilian nationality often came under question as well, with one colleague saying that they found his accent odd and suspected it was possibly Russian.
Norwegian authorities have questioned Giammaria’s Brazilian nationality, too, even speculating that he is working with false documents, according to a court order seen by VG newspaper.
“The department’s assessment is based on information that the foreigner is in Norway on assignment for the Russian authorities and that he may be a Russian citizen with incorrect Brazilian identity papers. Nothing has subsequently emerged to indicate that the ministry’s assessment is not correct. On the contrary, this is substantiated by the defendant’s behavior in court, and the court uses the ministry’s assessment as a basis,” the court order read.
The PST’s director of communications, Trond Hugubakken, told VG that Giammaria’s apprehension was part of an international effort, though he declined to mention how many countries and which ones. It is known that the suspected spy worked in Canada previously.
The Russian Embassy sent a statement to VG denying that the man works for Russia and claiming he is a victim of “spy mania” that has gripped Western countries as of late.
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Russian intelligence agencies seem to have a habit of giving agents cover under the guise of Latin American nationals; a woman who previously wooed NATO officers in Naples under the guise of working as a Peruvian jewelry designer was found in August to be a Russian spy, while in June, another agent was caught by Dutch authorities trying to acquire an internship at the International Criminal Court.
The newest suspected spy bust marks the fourth major Russian espionage-related arrest in Norway over the past few weeks.
