The married couple of Russian illegal spies Artem Shmyrev and Irina Romanova, who managed to escape from Brazil and Greece on the eve of their exposure, have returned to life in Moscow under their real names. This is evidenced by the analysis of leaks conducted by the Agentstvo. Shmyrev lives in an apartment in Mitino district that he bought back in 2017, drives a used BMW X3, and Romanova orders cosmetics to her mother’s apartment.
Details. Shmyrev was one of the members of a spy network that was exposed in 2025 in Brazil. Local intelligence agencies came across the group after GRU officer Sergei Cherkasov was detained in the Netherlands in April 2022, who, with documents of a Brazilian citizen, tried to get a job at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Cherkasov had a genuine Brazilian birth certificate issued to a woman who had never had children and died in the early 1990s. Other members of the exposed Russian spy network were similarly legitimized.
- Shmyrev was one of the first to be exposed. He lived in Rio de Janeiro under the name Gerhard Daniel Campos Wittich, owned a printing company, and dated a Brazilian woman. The man spoke almost perfect Portuguese, and attributed his slight accent to his childhood in Austria. Shmyrev’s real wife, Irina Romanova, also a spy, worked undercover in Greece. In the couple’s text messages published by The New York Times (NYT), the woman admitted that the life the couple led did not meet their expectations.
- Romanova arrived in Greece several years ago on a Mexican passport in the name of Maria Tsalla, The Guardian wrote in April 2023. She told friends that she was born in Greece but grew up in Belize. According to the publication, the woman used a fake birth certificate to «restore» her Greek citizenship. Romanova-Tsalla ran a travel blog, studied at a language school, and dated a director.
- At the end of 2022, Shmyrev fled to Malaysia, The New York Times wrote. He received an order to return after the arrest of another spy couple, Artem and Anna Dultsev, in Slovenia, The Guardian wrote. Shmyrev’s wife Romanova-Tsalla left Athens in early January.
- By April 2023, Shmyrev and Romanova had probably already returned to Russia, The Guardian suggested. This is confirmed by leaks studied by the Agentstvo. This month, Shmyrev bought a used 2017 BMW X3, and Romanova got a card for the VinLab chain of liquor stores. They later registered with other Russian services, including for online delivery of goods.
- The family has a 65 sq. m. apartment in Mitino, purchased in 2017. However, it is unclear whether they continue to live there together. Shmyrev indicated the apartment address when insuring the car, while Romanova ordered cosmetics to her mother’s apartment on Varshavskoe Shosse.
- In 2023, Shmyrev received 87 thousand rubles in income as an entrepreneur.
- The leaks also allow us to learn more about the past of the ex-spies. 36-year-old Artem Shmyrev was born into the family of an FSB officer in Stavropol. His father, Andrei Shmyrev, worked as deputy head of the FSB Directorate for the Development of the State Border, according to leaked data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for 2014. And in 2013, Shmyrev Sr. even headed the entire directorate for several months, according to SPARK-Interfax.
- According to leaked data, 36-year-old Irina Romanova was born in Voronezh. She also studied journalism there. In 2010, while still a student, she went to the Seliger forum, according to a note by Romanova herself in the publication Luchshiy Gorod (the publication was deleted in 2025, but an archive copy has been preserved).
Context. Another exposed spy of the Brazilian network has returned to life in Russia under her real name, Agentstvo wrote earlier. Olga Tyutereva, after returning to Russia, leads a public life in Magadan as a teacher and member of the mountaineering federation, organizes master classes, gives interviews to the media (more).
The Rupep database of public figures was used in the work on the material
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