He could serve in intelligence, he could act in films. But in reality he turned out to be as useless a spy as an actor. David Ballantine Smith, a 58-year-old Briton who lived in Germany and is married to a native of Donbass, no matter how hard he tried, failed to convince the London court of his simplicity, naivety and innocence. In February 2023, he was sentenced to 13 years and 2 months in prison for spying for Russia.
Just David
Born in a small industrial town in Scotland, David Ballantine Smith found his calling in the military. Enlisting in the British Air Force in 1985, he served his country for 12 years. At some point, Smith even received a prestigious position at the headquarters of the Royal Air Force Fighter Command.
After completing his military service, he moved to England and became a flight auditor at Gatwick Airport. Then he worked as a flight attendant in one of the airlines until 2002. In 2002, Smith married a Russian-speaking Ukrainian Svetlana and settled in Potsdam, Germany.
Career eventually led Smith to the guards. But, unlike most former military men, this Scot in 2016 got the opportunity to guard not a warehouse or a store, but the British Embassy in Berlin.
Inconspicuous, quiet, good-natured introvert. This is how Smith is described by his former colleague and friend. And most likely, the world would never have heard of David Smith, a former pilot and embassy guard. If in August 2021 he had not been arrested on charges of spying for Russia.
Fatal Svetlana
The turning point in the ordinary life of David Smith happened sometime in 2018. It was then that his wife Svetlana decided to return to her homeland, to the Donbass.
Already during court hearings, Smith said that after the departure of his wife, he became depressed and began to drink a lot – seven pints of beer a day. And in order to somehow occupy himself, he began to sit at the computer all day long in search of something interesting. As a result, he became interested in conspiracy theories, including those promoted by Alex Jones and David Icke.
But the affair was not limited to conspiracies. Left alone, Smith seems to be angry at the whole world – at his native Britain, Germany and Ukraine, which “took” his wife from him. Perhaps that is why Smith during this period became especially sympathetic to Russia.
During searches in his apartment, a flag of the Russian Federation, a Soviet military cap, a toy Soviet car, and even a Soviet plush dog in military uniform were found. And on the shelves are books with stories about Soviet soldiers who fought against the Nazis, some even in Russian.
However, this whole set of household utensils in itself is not considered criminal even now in Britain. In the end, these things in theory could belong to his wife. There is nothing illegal even in a poster found in his locker at work showing the Russian president holding former German chancellor Angela Merkel by the throat while wearing a Nazi uniform.
“For God’s sake, it’s just a picture! She seemed funny to me. Maybe I have a perverted sense of humor, ”Smith justified himself in court.
David Ballantine Smith was in the dock for collecting data on the staff of the British Embassy in Berlin, the layout of the embassy itself, and even secret documents that he managed to get to as a security guard since 2018 (most likely shortly after his wife left). The investigation alleges that since at least November 2020, Smith has been passing this information to the Russian special services.
Agent Smith
Smith, I must say, no one recruited. He occupied a very insignificant position. He was not a diplomat. He had no security clearance. As, by the way, and faithful and regular access to it. Maybe some papers and envelopes were left at his window in the tiny guard’s booth, but not a single normal intelligence officer would bet that among these papers there would be something remotely of interest to intelligence.
So at first, Smith’s activities looked like a parody of a spy thriller. Having taken on his chest, the future agent Smith turned on the camera of his phone and walked around the embassy complex, filming the workplaces of employees, talking along the way about what they do at the embassy. Taking advantage of the fact that he had spare keys to some offices, he went into them, also taking pictures of everything that could be of interest to foreign intelligence.
The pearl of Smith’s collection was the one and only secret document he obtained – a copy of a letter from then-Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It is possible, however, that the stamp “top secret” was assigned to this document only out of respect for the sender and recipient of the letter.
Smith copied all this to a USB flash drive. So that no one would guess for sure that it contained secret information, he pasted a piece of paper on it with the inscription “holiday photos of Berlin.”
Riding the same conspiracy from Smith was to send a letter to the Russian military attaché in Germany through the post office near his home in Potsdam. The letter, sent in November 2020, contained the names, addresses and phone numbers of embassy employees, as well as various secret documents and information about the work of employees’ electronic badges.
To prevent any of the postal employees from opening the envelope with valuable data, Smith indicated on it that this was a letter from an embassy employee.
Fake Dmitry and Irina
The letter played its part. Or rather, roles. It really brought attention to David Smith. No matter how ridiculous the poor security guard is, not a single intelligence agency in the world will refuse to have at its disposal a man who tells her literally everything that happens in one of the most important diplomatic missions of Britain in the world. Starting with the names of relatives or children of diplomats (or, for example, not quite diplomats), and ending with what kind of view opens from one or another window of the embassy.
As the prosecution later considered, after that Smith had his own liaison and he began to receive money for his efforts.
But the letter also attracted the attention of German counterintelligence, which, of course, did not miss such a fact as sending a letter from Potsdam to the military attache of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately for Smith, he was the only foreign embassy employee living in the area. His name quickly became known, and the German counterintelligence officers invited their British colleagues to join forces and conduct a joint operation. It started in August 2021.
British MI5 contacted Smith, informing him in great confidence that he had been selected for a top-secret operation. The task is not the most difficult, but responsible – to provide access to the embassy building of a Russian citizen named Dmitry.
Smith was not particularly dedicated to the details. Nevertheless, it was clear from the conversations that Dmitry was a highly informed person, possibly a member of the special services, whose appearance at the embassy should be kept in the strictest confidence.
Smith was so delighted that he had no doubts about why he was involved, because his poster with Putin and Merkel was known to the entire embassy. However, knowing what we know about Smith now, we can confidently say that he would hardly have asked such a question, even if he was completely calm.
During the meeting, Dimitri, who was actually a British intelligence agent, asked Smith to make copies of several documents marked with a pink marker, as well as to get rid of the packaging from a mobile phone that he was allegedly given to communicate with British intelligence.
Smith, who had no intention of helping the Russian spy for Britain, did not comply with any of Dmitry’s requests – all of his belongings were later found in Smith’s apartment during a search. Most likely, he kept them as evidence, so that he could then report the enemy spy to the Russian military attaché.
On the video (and Smith, of course, recorded on video all his actions and the appearance of Dmitry himself), the words of the guard are clearly audible: “If he is from the embassy, then they will quickly figure out who he is.”
However, he did not pass this record on to anyone. A few days later, David was approached at a bus stop by a woman who introduced herself as GRU officer Irina. She said that the Russian secret services have suspicions that Dmitry could arrive in Berlin to work for British intelligence. But the details of this case Irina (actually another MI5 agent) offered to discuss the next day, meeting at the agreed place. Smith agreed, unaware that he thereby signed for himself, if not a sentence, then a warrant for arrest and extradition.
On August 11, 2021, David Smith was arrested at his apartment in Potsdam. And in April 2022, he was extradited to Britain.
In court, David Smith appeared before the public in faded blue jeans, worn Skechers sneakers and a wrinkled sweater. With glasses and a hearing aid, he looked more like a helpless and exhausted pensioner than a spy. This is exactly what he wanted: during one of the meetings, he asked the court to consider him not a spy, but a “disgruntled employee” who hated his place of work and the United Kingdom.
The court considered the appearance of a good-natured and deeply unhappy person to be Smith’s thoughtful staging. As clumsy as his spy skills. Smith never handed over anything top-secret to Russian intelligence. But this, according to the verdict of the court, does not negate the gravity of his crime.
First, Smith caused “colossal” economic damage to Britain. After the British intelligence agencies found out about the spy at the embassy in Berlin, they had to check all the employees of the diplomatic mission. And it cost the British treasury £820,000.
Secondly, the transfer of personal data of embassy employees to another state exposes them to serious danger and provides an opportunity for blackmail or other malicious intent. And therefore, according to the judge, Smith fully deserved such a severe punishment – 13 years and 2 months in prison.
