Ambassador formerly dubbed Russian spy by Lithuania, bids farewell to Malta

Russian ambassador Vladimir Malygin has bid farewell to the Speaker of the House as he prepares to leave his diplomatic posting in Malta.

Malygin paid a farewell visit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Anġlu Farrugia on Friday, the latter praising Malygin’s work during his tenure and strengthening long-standing relations between Malta and Russia.

“These relations have been strengthened through increased trade exchanges and the conclusion of various bilateral agreements and have also been further enhanced through high-level meetings,” Farruia said, recalling his  visits to St Petersburg in 2017 at the International Parliamentary Union assembly and to Moscow in 2019 for the International Forum for the Development of Parliamentarism.

The two dignitaries discussed issues of mutual interest, including the COVID-19 situation in the Russian Federation as well as the political situation in Malta.

Ambassador Vladimir Malygin handed to Speaker Farrugia a copy of a texted message of congratulations from Valentina Matviyenko, former ambassador to Malta and now Chairperson of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, on the occasion of Independence Day.

In April 2014, the Lithuanian state security department VSD claimed in its annual threat assessment that Malygin, then Russia’s consul general in Klaipeda, had been removed from Llithuania becuase he was a Russia spy.

“In April (of 2014), Foreign Intelligence Service agent Malygin was sent out of Lithuania who, under the disguise of the Russian consul general in Klaipėda, maintained contacts with heads of municipalities, representatives of Russian compatriot organizations and top management of strategic companies,” the department said in an assessment of threats to national security.

According to the document, Malygin “aimed to acquire non-public information about positions of political parties during the Lithuanian presidential elections, possible changes in the ruling coalition after the presidential elections, the course and perspectives of the liquefied natural gas terminal project.”

“The FIS agent encouraged Lithuanian politicians and businessmen to support the Russian stance on the facilitated visa regime for residents of the region close to the border between Lithuania and the Russian Kaliningrad region, shaped their opinion in a way that Lithuania should revise its policies in the relations with Russia and follow pragmatic interests,” the VSD said.

After being appointed to the port city of Klaipėda in September of 2012, Malygin spent less than two years as Russia’s consul general. Lithuania also recalled its consuls from Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg after the departure of Malygin in 2014.

The VSD said three employees of Russian intelligence residencies were sent out of Lithuania for active spying activitie, whose activities included recruitment of agents, unlawful collection of intelligence information and active measures.

The VSD claimed at least one-third of Russian diplomats working in Lithuania were officers of intelligence services or linked to intelligence services, having taken an increased interest in Lithuania’s military and other strategic infrastructure.

Lithuania’s then foreign minister Linas Linkevicius said the case was not exceptional at all, because spying under diplomatic cover was quite a common practice both in Lithuania and the entire world.

The port city of Klaipeda is the third-largest conurbation in Lithuania; its population is almost 20% ethnic Russian, the second highest figure of any municipality in the country.