The British embassy guard accused of selling secrets to Russia glares at the camera while wielding a knife in a photo that has emerged from Russian social media.
Scot David Smith, 57, holds a beer and wears a football shirt of Ukrainian team FC Dnipro in the snap, posted soon after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in pro-Russia eastern Ukraine.
Posting under a fake name, on the same day he uploaded a photo of himself in front of a Soviet tank in a T-shirt with the word Russia written in Russian.
Smith, of Paisley, also posted a picture of Ukrainian wife Svetlana Makogonova sitting on an artillery gun barrel.
Another image shows the former RAF serviceman posing in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin, just a short walk from the entrance to the British embassy where he would later work.
It is believed he used his job as a security guard there to eavesdrop on sensitive conversations. He is currently in prison in Germany after his arrest last week at his flat in Potsdam, which was full of Russian memorabilia.
In the About Me section of his social media profile, Smith wrote: “Anti Nato. Anti EU. Anti American.” In 2014 he put up an image of Russian leader Vladimir Putin raising a middle finger with the caption “F*** NATO”. The next year he added one of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a toilet, captioned “Oh no, Russians are coming.”
It came soon after Russian hackers are believed to have accessed computers used by the German parliament, including Merkel’s personal email account. He also posted pictures in support of pro-Russian separatist groups in Ukraine. In one, he holds a sign reading “Save Donbass People From Ukrainian Nazi Army” in one hand and a UK passport in the other.
The caption translates from Russian as: “I am a Scotsman living in Germany and this photo is in support of Donbass! F*** the European Union, GLORY NOVOROSSIYA [New Russia].”
A probe by German and British security services was sparked after authorities noticed he had not used his bank account in months.
Smith and his wife got married in 2002. Neighbours recognised photos of the pair but said she had not been seen for a while. Reports suggest she left him in February.
