This was the capture of a Russian citizen accused of intervening in the protests of the National Strike

On March 30, six captured citizens who were accused of having been part of a criminal network that moved large sums of money from Russia and who, at the same time, would have been part of the demonstrations of the National Strike were presented before a guarantee judge. The arrests occurred after the newspaper El Tiempo, among its investigations, showed that these people had been part of the excuses. Sergei Vagin, one of them, identified as an alias of 'Servac', confessed to recording what happened in the streets in those days.

The man broadcast live, through social networks, what was happening during the citizen protests. He also said that the money he received from abroad came from the sports betting he used to make, taking into account his experience as an analytic. According to lawyer Francisco González Cifuentes, Sergei's videos during the demonstrations are not significant of a crime, and did not correspond to a journalistic broadcast. In turn, he stressed that the man has a clean legal record, since he has never had problems of this kind.

“I am dedicated to sports betting, I broadcast live because it was the best way to do it, as anyone can do and that is not a crime,” said the Russian citizen in his defense. The man was captured in the middle of a joint operation between the Prosecutor's Office and the Army. The actions were commanded by the Thirteenth Army Brigade. He was taken by the authorities to the side of six more people who, apparently, would be members of the Frontline.

He was arrested in the Suba sector. “There was a break-in at his house, at 7 in the morning, and that's when he was captured,” said the lawyer for the newspaper El Tiempo. The citizen remains in the prosecutor's bunker and waits to know what the prosecution's request is.

In addition to being allegedly accused of investing the money that came to him in violent actions against the Colombian public forces, he is allegedly accused of non-consensual transfer of assets, concert to commit crimes, illicit use of telecommunications networks and abusive access to a computer system.

The money, raised in their accusations, ended up in the hands of members of the First Line. Vargin had a permit issued by the Russian Embassy that allowed him to move freely around Colombia. There, as mentioned earlier, it was evident that he had no record with the justice system. The man even moved figures between five and 15 million pesos. For the CIA and the DEA, the story is different, according to these authorities, the Russian would be facing an operation of money laundering and tax evasion of more than 146 million dollars.

In response to the facts, the Russian Embassy in Colombia assured that they have not attempted to interfere in the affairs of the country since their position. “Neither has it tried, nor does it intend to interfere in the internal life of Colombia,” the statement read. According to the entity, any comment that points to the contrary is the result of “insinuations and slander”.

The Russian embassy described as 'fake news' those journalistic reports that claim that Russia wants to intervene in national politics, in fact, it was argued that Colombia has full power to choose its future. Russia wants 'peace to reign' in Colombia.

In view of the foregoing, the Embassy of the Russian Federation expresses its categorical rejection of such insinuations and slander, reiterating that Russia has neither attempted nor intends to interfere in the internal life of Colombia. The warnings of some visiting foreign diplomats about “almost imminent” Russian interference in the Colombian elections in March have been left in the air. And so will things go on, have no doubt.”

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