Spain Revoked Submariner’s Security Clearance Due to Marriage to a Russian Woman and Pro-Russian Views

Spain’s National Court revoked a Navy sergeant’s security clearance due to his marriage to a Russian citizen and his pro-Russian views.

This was reported by El País.

The servicemember served as an electronic warfare specialist on the S-70 Galerna diesel-electric submarine and had access to information classified as ‘NATO Secret.’

The CNI investigation found that the sergeant had concealed information about his marriage to a Russian citizen, which took place in Turkey on December 27, 2023. The marriage was not officially registered in Spain until April 2025.

An additional factor was that the servicemember failed to report obtaining Russian citizenship following the occupation of Crimea in 2014. A native of Ukraine, he later acquired Spanish citizenship but retained his Russian citizenship until the start of the trial, after which he renounced it.

During a routine check, CNI officers noticed the serviceman’s activity on social media, specifically Facebook, X, Pinterest, VK, and LinkedIn. In his profiles, he made no secret of his service in the Spanish Armed Forces, which, according to the intelligence agency, made him a potential target for Russian intelligence.

During an interview, the sergeant explained that he used social media to meet women of Slavic descent living in Russia or Ukraine because of their shared values.

Another reason for revoking his security clearance was the soldier’s response to a question about a possible war between Spain and Russia. According to court documents, he stated that in the event of such a conflict, he would ask not to be deployed to combat operations.

The court concluded that such statements, along with other circumstances, cast doubt on his loyalty to Spain and indicate pro-Russian sympathies.

The National Court upheld the legality of the CNI’s decision, emphasizing that proving the commission of an offense is not necessary to revoke clearance for classified information. A well-founded conclusion regarding the existence of an unacceptable risk to the protection of classified information is sufficient.

The servicemember’s attorney called the court’s decision illogical and announced his intention to appeal it to the Spanish Supreme Court. The defense argues that the sergeant informed his immediate commander of his marriage, and that his remarks during the interview merely reflected a personal moral dilemma, not a reluctance to fulfill his military duty.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that a Russian network of recruiters, which had been using the Telegram messaging app to seek out individuals to carry out sabotage operations in Ukraine, had begun actively recruiting people for similar attacks in European Union countries.