Oleg Smolenkov

Early mentions in media
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 * Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault - Washington Post, June 23, 2017 (archive, video, audio)
 * ''Inside was an intelligence bombshell, a report drawn from sourcing deep inside the Russian government that detailed Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race. But it went further. The intelligence captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.
 * From the Start, Trump Has Muddied a Clear Message: Putin Interfered - The New York Times, July 18, 2018
 * Potential Clash Over Secrets Looms Between Justice Dept. and C.I.A. - The New York Times, May 24, 2019

Disappearance in Montenegro

 * An employee of the President’s Administrative Department disappeared without a trace with his wife and three children - Daily Storm, September 12, 2017 (in Russian)
 * Russia investigated disappearance of suspected US spy as possible murder - The Guardian, September 10, 2019

Extraction

 * Exclusive: US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017 - Jim Sciutto, CNN, September 9, 2019
 * C.I.A. Informant Extracted From Russia Had Sent Secrets to U.S. for Decades - The New York Times, September 9, 2019
 * CIA Spy Extracted From Russia Sent Information ‘For Decades,’ New York Times Claims - Sputnik, September10, 2019
 * U.S. Spy Evacuated From Russia Was Possibly a Senior Kremlin Official’s Aide – Kommersant - ''The Moscow Times, September 10, 2019
 * ''The alleged U.S. spy could be Oleg Smolenkov, an official with President Vladimir Putin’s administration, Kommersant reported Tuesday, citing anonymous social media channels and past media coverage.
 * ''Smolenkov had been a longtime trusted assistant of Yury Ushakov — a senior foreign policy aide to Putin — dating back to Ushakov's years as Russian ambassador to the U.S., Kommersant cited several unnamed sources as saying.
 * Kremlin has no evidence Smolenkov worked for CIA - TASS, September 10, 2019
 * The former Russian government official, who had a job with access to secrets, was living openly under his true name- NBC, September 10, 2019

CIA response published in Western media: “CNN’s narrative that the Central Intelligence Agency makes life-or-death decisions based on anything other than objective analysis and sound collection is simply false,” a CIA spokesperson told the news outlet when contacted. “Misguided speculation that the president’s handling of our nation’s most sensitive intelligence – which he has access to each and every day – drove an alleged exfiltration operation is inaccurate.”

Russian media speculates that an adviser III class, who "vanished" with his family on a vacation in Montenegro on 14 June 2017 may be that person (Peskov; Kommersant). According to Peskov, "a few years ago he was dismissed by internal order, his position did not belong to the category of senior officials, the so-called designated posts". This employee was laid off "about two or three years ago". "According to his job duties, he would have no direct contacts with the president of the Russian Federation."

Life in USA

 * Possible Russian spy for CIA now living in Washington area - NBC News, September 10, 2019
 * Virginia Residents Question Whether Their Neighbor Was A Russian Informant - Todd Prince, RFE/RL, September 10, 2019

Denials

 * The Federation Council called the CNN story about a "Russian spy" an outright fake -RIA, September 9, 2019
 * ''The story of the "Russian spy" published by the American television channel CNN is an outright (откровенный) fake, said member of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Franz Klintsevich.
 * Pompeo: I've seen that reporting, the reporting is materially inaccurate . I don't talk about things like this often, it is only the occasion when there's something I think puts people at risk for the reporting is so egregious as to create enormous risk to the united states that I comment in the way I just did and I won't say anything more about it. I know the cia put out a statement, suffice to say that reporting is factually wrong (about 12:15 on the video)

Analysis

 * Obama And Brennan Burned A Very Useful Spy And Now CNN Outs Him - Moon of Alabama, September 10, 2019
 * Murdered In Montenegro, Or Living In Suburban Virginia? Unraveling The 2017 American Spy Story - Aric Toler, Bellingcat, September 10, 2019