Romanian jailed for spying had staged Russian arrest video

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 22 Oct, 10:08 · Archive

David Adrian Kercso, a 23-year-old Romanian who grew up in England, was sentenced to 15 years in Russia for allegedly spying for Ukraine, but analysis shows his arrest video was staged.

David Adrian Kercso, a 23-year-old Romanian citizen who grew up in England, was sentenced earlier this year to 15 years in prison for spying for Ukraine. Russia's FSB security service released video footage purporting to show his arrest, depicting a young man in a blue knitted hat and Adidas backpack being forced onto the pavement by security operatives in a park in the southern Russian city of Sochi.

Analysis of the video and court records reveals the footage was not what it purported to be. At the time the video was filmed, Kercso had already been in Russian custody for months. Pro-Russian separatists in Abkhazia, a breakaway territory in neighbouring Georgia, had released their own separate footage showing Kercso in their custody a day before he made his initial appearance in a Russian court.

The FSB did not respond to requests for comment explaining why it would release a video depicting the purported arrest of a suspect who was already in custody. Requests for comment were also sent to the Abkhazian separatists' SGB security agency, the Russian embassy in London, and the Romanian and Ukrainian foreign ministries, but none replied.

How it is being reported

• Love affair to staged arrest: how a Romanian from England was jailed in Russia as a spyDavid Adrian Kercso was sentenced to 15 years in Russia for spying, but a Reuters analysis reveals his FSB arrest video was staged.New York Post · 22 Oct, 09:59
• From Reading to Russia: How a Romanian’s love affair across Europe ended in a Russian jail for spyingKercso says that the staged Russian video of his ‘arrest’ was filmed in mid-April in Sochi, after he had already been capturedIndependent World · 22 Oct, 09:42

In this story: David Adrian Kercso · Romania · Russia · Ukraine · Sochi · Abkhazia · Georgia · FSB

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem