A married couple with Russian and Israeli citizenship, Alexander Kruglyansky and Alexandra Kruglyanskaya, have been arrested in Montenegro, where they will be held for up to 30 days. They were detained at Tivat airport while trying to fly to Tel Aviv with 19 suitcases. Police later found approximately 1 million euros and a large quantity of IT equipment in an apartment they used in Budva. The gear included devices suspected of being intended for use in surveillance and espionage, according to a Sept. 27 report by Montenegrin outlet Vijesti.
Alexander Kruglyansky, 31, and Alexandra Kruglyanskaya, 42, were detained Sept. 23. Montenegrin police said border and customs officers searching their luggage found 26,210 euros, 1,150 Israeli shekels, a large quantity of undeclared electronics, and various medications. Several communications devices were also seized. The couple are suspected of smuggling and money laundering.
According to Vijesti, electronics were found in 17 of the 19 suitcases. Police photographs of the seized equipment show a BugHunter Professional BH-04 radio-signal detector, surveillance cameras, computer components, storage devices, cables, and a GPS tracker with a microphone bearing Russian-language labels.
After the arrests, police searched an apartment on the second floor of a residential building in Budva that the couple had been using. The search lasted more than 12 hours. Officers found cash in eight currencies — euros, Russian rubles, Serbian dinars, Israeli shekels, Turkish lira, UAE dirhams, U.S. dollars, and Kyrgyz soms — worth about 1 million euros in total. Police also seized a polygraph, communications equipment, a large quantity of electronic hardware, and 1,120 euros that they suspect is counterfeit. All of the seized items will be sent for forensic examination.
Vijesti also reported that security officers searched an apartment in the city of Bar that the Kruglyanskys were believed to have used. The couple had entered Montenegro multiple times and stayed there on tourist visas. Both exercised their right to remain silent during questioning.
Investigating Judge Špiro Pavićević of the Basic Court in Kotor ordered the Kruglyanskys detained for up to 30 days citing a flight risk. Police said they were investigating the circumstances of the case together with Montenegro’s National Security Agency and other security bodies, and were also cooperating with the international intelligence community.
In July, Montenegro expelled three Russians after local authorities found a large quantity of computer and digital equipment in their possession. One of them was camera operator Andrei Ishkinin, who had worked with Shkulev Media. His wife told The Insider that he was transporting computers and other equipment to a friend’s birthday gathering for gamers. She was unable to name the specific games involved, however, and declined to provide the identity of the person whose birthday was purportedly being celebrated. Montenegrin police and the National Security Agency said at the time that they would determine the purpose of the three Russians’ trip and the intended use of the equipment and would report the results. No findings have yet been made public.
