Russia formally declares alleged CIA mole missing, search underway, database shows

Russia has officially declared a former Kremlin official alleged to have been a CIA informant missing and is looking for him, the Interior Ministry’s database shows.

US media reports, confirmed to Reuters by two sources, say a CIA informant in the Russian government was extracted and brought to the US in 2017. The official may have been a man called Oleg Smolenkov, who reportedly disappeared with his wife, Antonina, and three children while on holiday in Montenegro in June 2017.

The ministry’s database shows that Smolenkov has now been declared missing and that the ministry is looking for him, RIA Novosti reported.

US media reports have described the informant as a high-level CIA source. The Kremlin has confirmed that Smolenkov worked in the Russian presidential administration, but said he was fired in 2016/17 and was not senior.