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Davos spy story created out of thin air — Russian embassy

Two Russian diplomatic passport holders attracted the attention of police in the Swiss canton of Graubunden while visiting the city of Davos last summer, the Tribune de Geneve newspaper informed

Davos, Switzerland AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

Davos, Switzerland

© AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

GENEVA, January 21. /TASS/. A story about two "Russian spies" visiting Davos in the summer of 2019, published in the Tribune de Geneve newspaper, was created out of thin air, the Russian embassy in Geneva said.

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The article says that two Russian diplomatic passport holders attracted the attention of police in the Swiss canton of Graubunden while visiting the city of Davos last summer. According to the newspaper, their trip could have been related to the upcoming World Economic Forum, as its participants could become "potential espionage targets." Police said that the Russians had been detained for identification. The article adds that one of them claimed to be a plumber. According to police, no evidence was found pointing to the Russians’ criminal activities.

The Russian embassy was not informed of the Davos incident, Embassy Secretary Stanislav Smirnov told TASS. "We proceed from the fact that in Russia, diplomatic passports are issued to high-ranking officials," he added. According to Smirnov, as for reports about one of the Russians introducing himself as a plumber, it could have been "a misplaced joke." "A thing to note is that the article cites a police statement, which points out that nothing suspicious was found. The media has once again made an article out of nothing," the embassy secretary emphasized.

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