A Russian woman arrested last August in Albania on spying charges will not be extradited to Russia, a court in Albania ruled on April 14. Svetlana Timofeyeva, 34, was arrested along with another Russian and a Ukrainian on charges of entering a former military factory in Gramsh, 80 kilometers south of the capital, Tirana. Timofeyeva said she was there to film abandoned buildings from the Cold War era. In March, she applied for asylum in Albania, claiming she could face persecution in Russia, where she faces similar charges of spying. Known publicly by a pseudonym, Lana Sator, Timofeyeva is known as an urban explorer, photographing from inside sometimes tightly guarded military sites. To read the original story from RFE/RL's Balkans Service, click here.
Albania Won't Extradite Russian Woman Detained On Spying Charges
Svetlana Timofeyeva in an Albanian courtroom in August.