Italian Daily: "Russian Spy Infiltrates NATO in Napoli"

A woman named 'Maria Adela' suspected of being a spy. Photo by SNS capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Seoyul] It has been revealed that a Russian spy conducted espionage activities in Italy for about 10 years.

On the 26th, the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica exclusively reported that a Russian female spy operating under the name "Maria Adela" infiltrated the NATO Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy. The media revealed that after a 10-month joint investigation with the British online investigative outlet Bellingcat, the German weekly Der Spiegel, and the Russian investigative media The Insider, Adela was confirmed to be a spy directed by the Russian government.

According to the report, Adela traveled between Rome and Malta from 2009 to 2011 and settled in Naples in 2013. She then built relationships with key personnel at the NATO Joint Force Command and the U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet through social clubs. In particular, the media stated that she had a very close relationship with a data system administrator handling sensitive information at the NATO Joint Force Command.

Adela concealed her identity by running a jewelry store, and those who met her recalled that she was fluent in six languages. La Repubblica reported, "It is unclear whether Adela penetrated inside NATO and the U.S. Navy command, but there is evidence that she attended events hosted by these organizations."

However, it was not revealed what classified information Adela extracted while spying in Italy. La Repubblica stated, "No Russian spy has ever infiltrated this deeply into NATO headquarters. However, it has not been confirmed what information this spy obtained or whether viruses were planted on her boyfriend’s phone and computer."

The decisive clue confirming Adela as a Russian spy was the Russian passport she used upon entering Italy. The passport numbers of the three Russian passports she used were similar to those of agents from the Russian military intelligence agency, the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU).

Using publicly available Russian databases and facial recognition software released in recent years, Maria Adela’s real name was identified. Her real name is Olga Kolobova, born in 1982. La Repubblica reported, "By comparing Kolobova’s old passport photo with a driver’s license photo reissued last year, her real name was confirmed."

According to the media, Kolobova currently works as a government official in Moscow and owns two luxury apartments and an Audi vehicle.