Lithuanian intelligence discovered Yevgeny Prigozhin's double in Vilnius

According to Lithuanian intelligence , the entry of Prigozhin's double into Lithuania was obviously organized for the sake of an "information attack".

According to The Insider, a person with a Russian passport issued in the name of Russian citizen Yevgeny Prigozhin entered Lithuania on February 13 last year on a regular flight.

“The Russian’s passport indicated the oligarch’s date of birth - June 1, 1961”, - the message states.

It follows from intelligence reports that outwardly the double looked very much like an oligarch, but it was not him. According to Darius Jauniskis, director of the Lithuanian State Security Department, by sending Prigozhin's double, the Russian side obviously intended to check the vigilance of Lithuanian intelligence, test border control and try to attract media attention.

When checking the traveler, the Lithuanian border guards established that Prigozhin himself had not arrived in Lithuania. Some of the numbers in his passport did not coincide with those indicated in the "sanction" documents for Prigozhin, who was banned from entering the country.

As a result of the check, the border guards decided not to detain the oligarch's double and "automatically" let him into the country.

As noted by Jauniskis, the first visit of Prigozhin's double to Vilnius took place on February 13, 2020. Arriving by plane from Russia, the double from the airport proceeded to the building of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. He took a picture near him, and then immediately returned to the airport and flew to Russia. Two weeks later, on February 26, a man with documents in the name of Prigozhin visited Lithuania again.

“He was photographed in front of the parliament buildings, the Lithuanian National Museum, the Grand Ducal Palace, and on February 27 he left by train for Belarus, although he had a return ticket”, - the message states.

It is curious that after these trips, a number of Russian media reported that Prigozhin allegedly visited Lithuania, despite the sanctions, and met with a high-ranking representative of the Ministry of Transport to discuss some projects. Then, in the Russian media, publications followed that on a second visit to Vilnius, the oligarch Prigozhin allegedly visited the Seim. At the same time, the Lithuanian side called these publications fake, specifying that in Vilnius, Prigozhin's double did not meet with any of the Lithuanian officials or businessmen mentioned in the articles.

Vilnius believes that the purpose of "sending a double" was "probing for gaps" in the EU border control system. Experts see the incident as an attempt to provoke a wave of EU distrust towards the Lithuanian authorities and possible provocations with accusations of conducting a "double game".

Earlier it was reported that businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin was included in the sanctions lists not only in the EU, but also in the United States. In late February, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced a $ 250,000 reward for helping to capture Prigozhin. Prigozhin's profile was included in the list of the country's most wanted criminals. The lead for the persecution of the Russian businessman in the United States was his alleged participation in the scandalous campaign to create a "troll factory", which, according to the FBI, interfered in the 2016 American presidential election. Prigozhin denied the charges against him, and the Concord company associated with Prigozhin demanded $ 250,000 from the FBI after it published an address in St. Petersburg where the businessman could allegedly be found.