‘He was showing off to the Latvians’

Russian couple facing treason charges after FSB agent’s cover was allegedly blown at their wedding

On February 10, the FSB completed its investigation in the treason case against Kaliningrad residents Antonina Zimina and her husband Konstantin Antonets. The couple stands accused of blowing an FSB agent’s cover to Latvian intelligence services: According to Zimina’s father, the agent was an old college friend of hers who was invited to her wedding. The father of the bride told Kommersant that during the festivities, the agent drank, talked about his work, and took photos with other guests. When the photos subsequently appeared on social media and television, Russian officials opened a criminal case against Zimina and Antonets. The FSB agent himself appears not to be legally implicated, even as a witness.

Before she was arrested, Antonina Zimina worked as an independent expert for the Gorchakov Foundation for Public Diplomacy. An expert in the Baltic countries, she led the Baltic Center for Cultural Dialogue which organizes joint events between Russia and Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Zimina’s husband, Konstantin Antonets, worked at a Moscow law firm.

Zimina was arrested on treason charges in the summer of 2018. Investigators argued that she had unmasked an undercover FSB agent to Latvian intelligence. The diplomatic expert argued that the only piece of evidence in her case was a photo from her wedding to Antonets in 2015. In the summer of 2019, a year after his wife was arrested, Antonets was also taken in on treason charges.

With both members of the couple under guard, Konstantin Zimin, Zimina’s father, told the news outlet Novy Kaliningrad that the FSB agent involved in the case had studied law with his daughter at Baltic Federal University. Zimina invited the FSB officer to her wedding, which also included several of her Latvian friends. Konstantin Zimin said that during the course of the celebration, the agent “had a good amount to drink” and “was showing off to the Latvians by saying he was an FSB agent.”

“When I asked how [my daughter had blown an FSB agent’s cover], I was told that she had used a computer to transfer an image of him. The FSB is alleging that Tonya [Antonina] somehow confirmed to the Latvians that her friend who was at the wedding was an active FSB officer. If we’re to believe the investigators, then basically, the Latvians asked her whether it was true that her friend from the wedding was an FSB agent, and she said yes. […] Antonina is saying it was him who was trying to find a way to snitch on her,” Zimin said.

Zimin said the treason case against his son-in-law was fabricated as well. Zimina’s attorney, Ivan Pavlov, also told Novy Kaliningrad that the charges against his client are unfounded. According to Pavlov, investigators have not demonstrated that the defendant had any ties to Latvian intelligence, and “everybody knew” about her friend’s job even before the wedding.

The inconsistencies highlighted by both Zimina’s father and her attorney did not stop the FSB from bringing its investigation to completion, however. Anonymous sources initially notified TASSand Interfaxthat the case was moving on to the post-investigative stage. One TASS source indicated that Zimina stands accused of sending a photograph of her FSB agent friend to Latvia over the Internet; the agency did not specify Antonets’s alleged role in the case. TASS reported that both husband and wife have pleaded not guilty; they both face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

On February 11, Kommersant wrote that Zimina and Antonets are only being accused on one count of treason for revealing the identity of a man named Maxim who worked in the Kaliningrad division of the FSB. According to the newspaper, the agent had reached the rank of captain, and some evidence indicates that he worked in counterintelligence and was on good terms with his handlers.

In his interview with Kommersant, Konstantin Zimin repeated that “Maxim made no secret of his job” during Antonina Zimina’s wedding, saying that he drank, gave out business cards, and took pictures with other guests. Kommersant reported that those photos and videos were later posted on social media, where they were ultimately picked up by a Baltic TV station.

The defendant’s father also said the FSB agent in question is not implicated in the case against his daughter and son-in-law, not even as a witness. Meanwhile, according to Zimin, investigators have not questioned any of the guests from his daughter’s wedding who could have provided evidence about the agent’s behavior there. Antonina Zimina continues to be held in a pretrial detention center even though the court order for her to await trial under guard expired in December 2019.

Report by Olga Korelina

Translation by Hilah Kohen