Head of Sputnik expelled from Moldova turns out to be Russian officer and native of Ukraine

Vitalii Denysov, the head of Sputnik Moldova news agency, expelled from Moldova on 13 September, is a senior Russian officer and a native of Ukraine.

Source: The Insider

Details: As the outlet found out, Denysov is probably a personnel officer of the 72nd Special Service Center (military unit 54777), who, in the interests of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU) is engaged in information dumping and disinformation to foreign audiences.

Denysov was born in Zakarpattia Oblast and, after school, entered the Lviv Higher Military-Political School, where organisers of cultural and educational work and military journalists were trained.

Later, Lviv Higher Military-Political School, where Denysov studied, was renamed the Academy of Ground Forces of Ukraine. In July this year, the Russian army attacked the academy building with Kalibr missiles and destroyed one of the buildings.

In 1992, cadet Denysov refused to take the oath to Ukraine and, together with other school refusers, moved to Moscow.

There he was accommodated not far from the headquarters of the GRU in an officer's dormitory at 38 Khoroshevskoe Highway) The tax database confirms that he was listed as an employee of the main printing body of the Ministry of Defence of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

In 2005, the department granted him an apartment on Admiral Lazarev Street and another officer's license from the Ministry of Defence.

In 2013, Denysov worked in the Main Investigation Department in Moscow Oblast.

The Insider's source at the Ministry of Defence reported that Denysov moved from the Investigation Department to the 72nd Special Service Center (military unit 54777). This centre collects and analyses information from the GRU residencies abroad and also deals with fake information.

In 2016, officer Denysov was awarded the rank of Colonel of the Airborne Forces, and in 2019 he was appointed editor-in-chief of Sputnik in the non-recognised South Ossetia. After that, he headed Sputnik in Baku.

In 2022, Colonel Denysov was sent to Chisinau to gather information and promote a pro-Kremlin agenda, but after the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, internet sites and the local Sputnik broadcast were blocked.

Reminder:

• On 13 September, Vitalii Denysov, Russian propagandist and the head of Sputnik Moldova, was expelled from the country. This decision was explained by his interference in the internal affairs of Moldova.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia summoned the temporary representative of Moldova in Moscow in connection with the deportation of Denysov.

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