By being part of almost all the developments aiming to destabilize our region,  the colonel of the Russian Military Intelligence Service-GRU, Vladislav Filippov, was engaged for almost ten years in espionage activities in the region.

Namely, the Russian Military Intelligence Service (GRU) has appointed Vladislav Filippov, on diplomatic missions to the states, where it is interested to extend the Russian influence as well as destabilize them.

Vladislav Filippov has now been assigned as a military attaché at the Russian Embassy in Sarajevo.

Before that, Filippov had been serving at the Russian Embassy in Tirana, from where he had been expelled by the Albanian government, in response to Albania's "Skripal" case, where GRU operatives in London, were found to be behind the poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia.

Vladislav Filippov has been serving in our region from 2009, a year coinciding with Albania and Croatia's NATO membership, while Macedonian membership in the alliance was blocked by a Greek veto.

Filipov was first sent to Macedonia in 2009, where he served until 2012, from where he was then dispatched to Albania.

Filippov's main duties while serving in Macedonia were the obstruction of Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration, as well as the monitoring of developments in Albania in coordination with other officials at the Russian Embassy in Tirana. Interestingly enough, right after Albania's accession in NATO, there is noticed an increase in the Russian services presence in Albania and the region.

During his espionage activities in Macedonia, Filippov had created good relationships by recruiting Goran Zivaljevic, a Serbian-BIA intelligence officer who in 20015 was assigned as BIA Liaison Officer at the Serbian Embassy in Skopje.  Filippov meetings with Zivaljevic have mainly taken place in Belgrade, due to the risk of being discovered by the services of Western Intelligence.

In collaboration with Filippov, Zivaljevic had arranged the visit of the head of the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, Ivan Stoilkovic to Moscow.  This was done with the intention that Stoilkovic as a representative of a party from Macedonia signs a document for the creation of the "Balkan Foursome" military alliance.

In close cooperation with the Russian Intelligence in Macedonia and the region, Zivaljevic was involved in the organization of the April 27th attack on the Macedonian Parliament against the current pro-Western Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Ziadin Sela.

The attack was carried out by far-right groups in Northern Macedonia and VMRO-DPMNE MP Nikola

Gruevski, who has fled to Hungary.

The role of Zhivaljevic and the Russian services was also stated by the Macedonian  Intelligence Service -DSK, which emphasized that Zivaljevic had promoted Gruevski’s pro-Russian policy and that he had fought against Northern Macedonia's accession to NATO.

Part of the coup d'état in Macedonia, besides Zivaljevic and Filippov, was also the military journalist and analyst Miroslav Lazanski, who due to his activities over the years, in increasing Russian influence in the Balkans, has been rewarded by being appointed Serbian Ambassador to the Moscow.

Lazanski's role was that through propaganda in the Serbian daily “Politika” and in the Russian propaganda body, “Sputnik”, drives discontent within the Macedonian population against Zaev.

The Lazanski implication is also documented by the Security Department's surveillance and the Macedonian Counterintelligence-DSK.

According to tapping materials, it is learned that Zivaljevic arranged for Lazanski another meeting with VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski.

Immediately after Lazanski’s meeting with Gruevski,  the Serbian daily “Politika” carried the next day Lazanski’s article “Ne damo Makedoniju” (We won’t give up on Macedonia).

In the article, Lazanski goes so far in supporting of Gruevski that he compares Zaev’s attempt to the seizure of power, with Hitler's seizure of power.