Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
GRU Unit 29155 AI simulator
(@GRU Unit 29155_simulator)
Hub AI
GRU Unit 29155 AI simulator
(@GRU Unit 29155_simulator)
GRU Unit 29155
Unit 29155 is a Russian military intelligence (GRU) unit associated with foreign assassinations and other activities apparently aimed at destabilizing European countries. The unit is thought to have operated in secret since at least 2008, though its existence only became publicly known in 2019.
The Unit is commanded by Maj. Gen. Andrei Vladimirovich Averyanov and based at the headquarters of the 161st Special Purpose Specialist Training Center in eastern Moscow. Its membership has included veterans from Russian wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Ukraine, identified as Denis Sergeev (aka Sergei Fedotov), Alexander Mishkin (aka Alexander Petrov), Anatoliy Chepiga (aka Ruslan Boshirov, a Hero of the Russian Federation, Russia's highest honor), Sergey Lyutenkov (aka Sergey Pavlov), Eduard Shishmakov (aka Eduard Shirokov), Vladimir Moiseev (aka Vladimir Popov), Ivan Terentyev (aka Ivan Lebedev), Nikolay Ezhov (aka Nikolay Kononikhin), Alexey Kalinin (aka Alexei Nikitin), and Danil Kapralov (aka Danil Stepanov).
Le Monde reported in December 2019, citing French intelligence contacts, that 15 agents connected with Unit 29155 visited the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps between 2014 and 2018 including Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov who are believed to be responsible for the Skripal poisoning. High-ranking GRU officer Denis Vyacheslavovich Sergeev (alias Sergei Fedotov) has been identified by British authorities as the commander of the team that poisoned Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies, and his daughter Yulia Skripal. Anatoliy Chepiga, one of the suspected Skripal attackers, was photographed at Averyanov's daughter's wedding in 2017.
The unit's operations were described as sloppy by security officials since it has been linked to many operations that were unsuccessful. Several actions had to be broken off without success, such as the attempted coup in Montenegro in 2016, which was staged before the country joined NATO. In several cases, enough evidence was left behind to enable the perpetrators to be identified. Security experts[who?] wondered whether this method was chosen to signal that all opponents of the Russian regime were possible targets, no matter their location. Eerik-Niiles Kross, a former intelligence chief in Estonia, says this type of intelligence operation has become part of psychological warfare.
In August 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) posted a $10,000,000 reward for information leading to the locations of Vladislav Yevgenyevich Borovkov, Denis Igorevich Denisenko, Yuriy Fedorovich Denisov, Dmitriy Yuryevich Goloshubov, Nikolay Aleksandrovich Korchagin, and Amin Timovich Stigal.
Unit 29155 was linked — by the investigative Bellingcat website using open-source intelligence — to the attempted assassinations of Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev in April 2015 and the former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal in March 2018, both possibly overseen by the same agent. According to Ben Macintyre in the London Times in December 2019, the unit is believed to be responsible for a destabilisation campaign in Moldova and a failed pro-Serbian coup plot in Montenegro in 2016 including an attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister Milo Đukanović and occupy the parliament building by force. Russia has denied all accusations.
The men mentioned by Czech police in relation to 2014 Vrbětice ammunition warehouses explosions were the same men identified by Bellingcat in the Skripal poisoning case.
Andrej Babiš, the prime minister of Czechia, announced on 17 April 2021 that Unit 29155 was behind the 2014 Vrbětice ammunition warehouses explosions, which resulted in the death of two Czech citizens and damage exceeding CZK 1 billion. Czech police was seeking information from the public on two suspects: Alexander Mishkin (aka Alexander Petrov), Anatoliy Chepiga (aka Ruslan Boshirov). On April, 29 2024 Police of the Czech Republic announced the completion of the investigation of explosions, stating that it considered it proven that the explosions were carried out by GRU. In May 2024, the commander of Unit 29155, Averyanov, was declared wanted by the Czech Police.
GRU Unit 29155
Unit 29155 is a Russian military intelligence (GRU) unit associated with foreign assassinations and other activities apparently aimed at destabilizing European countries. The unit is thought to have operated in secret since at least 2008, though its existence only became publicly known in 2019.
The Unit is commanded by Maj. Gen. Andrei Vladimirovich Averyanov and based at the headquarters of the 161st Special Purpose Specialist Training Center in eastern Moscow. Its membership has included veterans from Russian wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Ukraine, identified as Denis Sergeev (aka Sergei Fedotov), Alexander Mishkin (aka Alexander Petrov), Anatoliy Chepiga (aka Ruslan Boshirov, a Hero of the Russian Federation, Russia's highest honor), Sergey Lyutenkov (aka Sergey Pavlov), Eduard Shishmakov (aka Eduard Shirokov), Vladimir Moiseev (aka Vladimir Popov), Ivan Terentyev (aka Ivan Lebedev), Nikolay Ezhov (aka Nikolay Kononikhin), Alexey Kalinin (aka Alexei Nikitin), and Danil Kapralov (aka Danil Stepanov).
Le Monde reported in December 2019, citing French intelligence contacts, that 15 agents connected with Unit 29155 visited the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps between 2014 and 2018 including Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov who are believed to be responsible for the Skripal poisoning. High-ranking GRU officer Denis Vyacheslavovich Sergeev (alias Sergei Fedotov) has been identified by British authorities as the commander of the team that poisoned Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies, and his daughter Yulia Skripal. Anatoliy Chepiga, one of the suspected Skripal attackers, was photographed at Averyanov's daughter's wedding in 2017.
The unit's operations were described as sloppy by security officials since it has been linked to many operations that were unsuccessful. Several actions had to be broken off without success, such as the attempted coup in Montenegro in 2016, which was staged before the country joined NATO. In several cases, enough evidence was left behind to enable the perpetrators to be identified. Security experts[who?] wondered whether this method was chosen to signal that all opponents of the Russian regime were possible targets, no matter their location. Eerik-Niiles Kross, a former intelligence chief in Estonia, says this type of intelligence operation has become part of psychological warfare.
In August 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) posted a $10,000,000 reward for information leading to the locations of Vladislav Yevgenyevich Borovkov, Denis Igorevich Denisenko, Yuriy Fedorovich Denisov, Dmitriy Yuryevich Goloshubov, Nikolay Aleksandrovich Korchagin, and Amin Timovich Stigal.
Unit 29155 was linked — by the investigative Bellingcat website using open-source intelligence — to the attempted assassinations of Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev in April 2015 and the former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal in March 2018, both possibly overseen by the same agent. According to Ben Macintyre in the London Times in December 2019, the unit is believed to be responsible for a destabilisation campaign in Moldova and a failed pro-Serbian coup plot in Montenegro in 2016 including an attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister Milo Đukanović and occupy the parliament building by force. Russia has denied all accusations.
The men mentioned by Czech police in relation to 2014 Vrbětice ammunition warehouses explosions were the same men identified by Bellingcat in the Skripal poisoning case.
Andrej Babiš, the prime minister of Czechia, announced on 17 April 2021 that Unit 29155 was behind the 2014 Vrbětice ammunition warehouses explosions, which resulted in the death of two Czech citizens and damage exceeding CZK 1 billion. Czech police was seeking information from the public on two suspects: Alexander Mishkin (aka Alexander Petrov), Anatoliy Chepiga (aka Ruslan Boshirov). On April, 29 2024 Police of the Czech Republic announced the completion of the investigation of explosions, stating that it considered it proven that the explosions were carried out by GRU. In May 2024, the commander of Unit 29155, Averyanov, was declared wanted by the Czech Police.