A Russian woman employed as an assistant by a British parliamentarian faces deportation from the U.K., amid reports that she may have been spying for Russia.
Ekaterina "Kaita" Zatuliveter, 25, was arrested on Dec, 2, and is suspected of having links to the FSB, or Russian intelligence, according to British media.
Zatuliveter earned a Master's degree at Bradford University and has been working for British Member of Parliament (MP) Mile Hancock for the last two and a half years, according to a press release by Hancock. Hancock is a 64-year-old Liberal Democrat MP from Portsmouth South.
In August this year Zatuliveter was interrogated by MI5 about possible ties to the FSB, following a vacation in Croatia.
At that time British media placed the case in the spotlight, as it followed the high-profile spy swap between Russia and the United States.
Hancock, on his part, says he supports Zatuliveter.
“She has cooperated fully. … And she could have left at any time since then without this controversy but believed she had done nothing wrong,” stated Hancock in his statement.
“She has been an excellent and conscientious employee,” he added.
A few of Hancock’s colleagues said that they had concerns over his being surrounded by beautiful Russian women, and his acting in some cases as what appeared to be a Russian lobbyist. At one point, Hancock simultaneously employed five young glamorous Russian women, a source familiar with the case told The Guardian newspaper, some of whom had access to the Council of Europe's central server.
"They knew the password. We had no idea what they were doing with the information," said the source, who declined to be named.
Hancock's statement said that Zatuliveter would appeal the verdict.
