Former Belarusian journalist Natallia Sudlenkova, who, according to the Czech authorities, was a Russian agent, left for Moscow, reports the Czech edition of Seznam Zprávy. Sudlenkova did so on 1 May, the last possible day she received a deportation order.
A month ago, on 2 April, the Czech Security and Information Service (BIS) announced the addition of the former journalist to the Czech National Sanctions List for her collaboration with the Russian intelligence service GRU. Sudliankova was granted asylum in the Czech Republic in 1999, but she was now required to leave the Czech Republic within 30 days.
According to Seznamu Zprávy, Sudlenkova flew from Prague to Istanbul on Thursday night and from there, several sources told the publication, to Moscow. Turkey is one of the few options to get from the Czech Republic to Russia today: since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine, there are no direct air links with Moscow.
Josef Urban, a spokesman for the Foreign Police, confirmed Sudlenkova’s departure to Turkey to the newspaper.
On 2 May, Natalia Sudlenkova herself told Seznam Zprávy that she was “now at the customs in Moscow”.
In early April, the Czech government added Sudlenkova to its national sanctions list because, according to their information, she conducted operations for the Russian GRU secret service in the Czech Republic, and she was directed from Moscow by GRU officer Alexei Shavrov, whom the Czech government also added to the sanctions list. At the time, the BIS said that Sudlenkova “was involved in influence and information activities coordinated by Russian state bodies”.
In an interview with Seznam Zprávu on 12 April, Sudlenkova did not admit that she worked for Putin’s regime or had contacts with Russian intelligence officers. She also denied that she had contact with GRU officer Shavrov.
At the time, she was considering three options on where to move from the Czech Republic. She considered returning to her native Belarus as the least likely, as she said she had “not changed her critical stance towards the regime.” Among other options, Sudlenkova also mentioned Russia and possibly Uzbekistan.
Inclusion on the National Sanctions List means that the individuals concerned are banned from entering and staying in the Czech Republic, any financial transactions through Czech organisations are prohibited, and any assets in the country are frozen. During all this time, Sudlenkova was unable to use her bank accounts.
In the Czech Republic, Sudlenkova worked as editor-in-chief of the Russian-language weekly Prague Telegraph. Natalia Sudlenkova was granted political asylum because of persecution in Belarus. There she allegedly ran for parliament on behalf of the United Civil Party and was accused of financial crimes. In an interview with Czech television in 2011, Sudlyankova said: “I had certain problems with Mr Lukashenko and people from his team. We could not stay in the same homeland” (quoted in Respekt magazine).
In 2002, she was detained at the Czech-German border on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by the Belarusian government. But the Czech court rejected Minsk’s extradition request, recognising Sudlenkova’s accusations as groundless.