🕷️ Crawler Inspector

[go to tvp.pl](https://www.tvp.pl/) [](https://www.facebook.com/tvpworldcom/)[](https://www.instagram.com/tvp_world/)[](https://x.com/TVPWorld_com)[](https://www.youtube.com/c/TVPWorld) [LIVE](https://tvpworld.com/51656539/our-stream) Search on website Start writing... New default look Enjoy our new light color mode for better clarity. You can switch back to dark anytime - we'll remember your choice. Politics # ‘Sloppy tradecraft’: How Russia’s elite hit squad was foiled by Google Translate slip-up [ Helen Wright](https://tvpworld.com/89902840/helen-wright) Edited by: Sion Pennar 14\.03.2026, 16:31  The group was busted after FBI read their automatically translated messages on U.S. servers. Photo: Cheng Xin/Getty Images Share [FACEBOOK]() [X]() [E-MAIL]() [COPY LINK]() Save [DOWNLOAD PDF]() [PRINT]() Key leaders in a new Russian elite hit squad have been identified after a series of “idiotic” mistakes, including the arrest of one officer running their agent using Google translated messages, a new investigation claims. *The Insider* website investigated the origins and work of Center 795, which was founded following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and after several “operational blunders” connected to Unit 29155, responsible for the 2018 Salisbury nerve-agent attack in the UK. The outlet said the entity is staffed by elite units from Russia’s [GRU foreign military intelligence agency](https://tvpworld.com/91616936/russia-using-wagner-group-to-recruit-vulnerable-europeans-for-nato-sabotage) and the internal security and counterintelligence agency, the FSB. It totals around 500 officers. Center 795 is “Russia’s newest and most secretive assassination directorate, designed, according to leaked Russian intelligence documents, to be impossible to detect,” *The Insider* reported. Considerable effort was made to ensure that the group could not be compromised electronically, as several previous Russian intelligence operations had been. It was also reportedly embedded inside arms manufacturer Kalashnikov Concern, for extra cover. What they had not accounted for – according to the report – was the “linguistic incompatibility” of their agents.  Denis Alimov and Darko Durovic had their first meeting at a restaurant by the FSB’s Lubyanka building headquarters in Moscow. Photo: Mark A. Wilson via Wikimedia Commons ## **‘Catastrophic’ solution** Center 795 handler Russian Denis Alimov and his US-based Serbo-Croatian speaking agent, Darko Durovic, did not speak each other’s languages well enough for “operational communication” of a “murder-for-hire plot”. US federal prosecutors allege Alimov recruited Durovic as his “primary field asset” for an operation focusing on the assassination of members of the Chechen diaspora in Europe who sought independence from Russia. Alimov allegedly offered Durovic a bounty of \$1.5 million for each target either dead or deported. “Their solution was straightforward and, as it turned out, catastrophic: they used Google Translate,” the investigation says. Durovic's Serbian field reports and Alimov's Russian instructions were transmitted through encrypted applications that the men believed to be secure. However, [Google operates on servers](https://tvpworld.com/92091959/Wo%C5%BAniak,%20Micha%C5%82%20https://tvpworld.com/91671288/russia-google-hit-for-over-quintillion-euros-in-penalties) in the United States which the FBI can access with a surveillance warrant. Investigators were able to access “every instruction and status report” in “legible, timestamped entries.” “It was, as a source close to the investigation later noted, even better than a wiretap because it arrived transcribed,” *The Insider* wrote. The information comes from a newly unsealed U.S. grand jury indictment.  Denis Alimov was arrested at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota in March 2026. Photo: Juancho Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images ## **Real name** Durovic also made other errors before his arrest in March 2025. In July and October 2024, he made two trips to Russia but attempted to disguise his visits as holidays to Turkey. The agent booked the flights under his real name. Upon returning to the USA, he was questioned by FBI special agents who had access to his airline records. He denied visiting Russia but the lies “were transparent, and they compounded his legal exposure.” [YOU MAY LIKE:  Putin signs law granting security services powers to cut people off from internet Politics](https://tvpworld.com/91711429/putin-signs-law-giving-fsb-power-to-cut-people-off-from-internet) He also used search engines to research what he likely sought as his murder weapon — “Glock 17,” “Glock 21,” “Glock 22” — and where to get a Glock 22 in Montenegro. Alimov was arrested at Colombia’s El Dorado Airport on February 24, 2026. He faces murder and kidnapping conspiracy charges and counts of providing material support to a designated terrorist organization and conspiracy to finance terrorism. ## **‘Sloppy tradecraft’** *The Insider* said it has exposed the names, corporate histories, and operational roles of those involved in Center 795 through leaked materials, corporate registry records, military documentation, and communications intercepts. The outlet said it will make it “considerably harder” for the unit to continue working in the same way. It added: "The entire unit has been compromised thanks to one operative’s sloppy tradecraft.” [\#RUSSIA](https://tvpworld.com/tag?tag=russia)[\#GOOGLE TRANSLATE](https://tvpworld.com/tag?tag=google+translate)[\#FSB](https://tvpworld.com/tag?tag=fsb)[\#GRU](https://tvpworld.com/tag?tag=gru)[\#ESPIONAGE](https://tvpworld.com/tag?tag=espionage) [SHARE ON FACEBOOK]() [SHARE ON X]() ## More In Politics [MORE...](https://tvpworld.com/69470656/politics) [ new Orbán’s defeat is good for Ukraine but Kyiv should not expect a blank check \[Analysis\] Politics](https://tvpworld.com/92628642/how-will-pter-magyars-win-change-hungarys-ukraine-stance) [ Zelenskyy and Obama high on US popularity ranking – but Dolly Parton outshines all Politics](https://tvpworld.com/92628371/politicians-outclassed-by-dolly-parton-in-us-popularity-ranking) [ Far-right Polish MP unfurls Israeli flag with swastika in parliament Politics](https://tvpworld.com/92627640/outrage-after-polish-mp-berkowicz-unfurls-israeli-flag-with-swastika) [ How Poland's right sold its soul to Orbán and Trump and lost both in a single weekend \[ANALYSIS\] Politics](https://tvpworld.com/92624989/how-orbns-defeat-exposed-polands-pro-russian-right) [](https://www.facebook.com/tvpworldcom/)[](https://www.instagram.com/tvp_world/)[](https://x.com/TVPWorld_com)[](https://www.youtube.com/c/TVPWorld) ##### Categories [News](https://tvpworld.com/69471092/news)[Politics](https://tvpworld.com/69470656/politics)[Business](https://tvpworld.com/69471105/business)[Our shows](https://tvpworld.com/89122505/our-shows)[Society](https://tvpworld.com/69471157/society)[Perspectives](https://tvpworld.com/69471131/perspectives)[Sports](https://tvpworld.com/69471130/sports)[Culture](https://tvpworld.com/69473617/culture)[History](https://tvpworld.com/69473601/history)[Nature\&Travel](https://tvpworld.com/69473597/nature-travel) ##### TVP WORLD [About Us](https://tvpworld.com/91996301/about-us)[Authors](https://tvpworld.com/69418468/authors)[Contact](https://tvpworld.com/36203854/contact)[Terms of use](https://tvpworld.com/36203804/terms-of-use)[Privacy Policy](https://tvpworld.com/36203806/privacy-policy) ##### TVP S.A. [Regulamin TVP.pl](https://vod.tvp.pl/pomoc/strona/regulamin)[Polityka prywatności](https://polityka-prywatnosci.tvp.pl/)[Informacje o nadawcy](https://www.tvp.pl/nadawca#tvp_world)[Kontakt](https://tvpworld.com/36203854/contact)[My consents]() ##### Group Websites [centrumeuropy.pl](https://centrumeuropy.pl/)[belsat.eu](https://belsat.eu/)[slawa.tv](https://slawa.tv/)[vot-tak.tv](https://vot-tak.tv/) [](https://tvp1.tvp.pl/) [](https://tvp2.tvp.pl/) [](https://regiony.tvp.pl/) [](https://abc.tvp.pl/) [](https://tvpkultura.tvp.pl/) [](https://historia.tvp.pl/) [](https://sport.tvp.pl/) [](https://www.tvp.info/) [](https://kobieta.tvp.pl/) [](https://polonia.tvp.pl/) [](https://tvprozrywka.tvp.pl/) [](https://dokument.tvp.pl/) [](https://seriale.tvp.pl/) [](https://hd.tvp.pl/) [](https://wilno.tvp.pl/) [](https://www.tvpparlament.pl/) [](https://tvpworld.com/) [](https://belsat.eu/) [](https://stream.tvp.pl/?channel_id=51466516) [](https://kultura2.tvp.pl/) [](https://historia.tvp.pl/52614342/historia2/) [](https://nauka.tvp.pl/) [](https://stream.tvp.pl/?channel_id=56969941) [](https://slawa.tv/) [](https://vot-tak.tv/) [](https://vod.tvp.pl/live,1/tvp-na-dobre-i-na-zle,2504621) [](https://vod.tvp.pl/live,1/tvp-klan,2543049) [](https://vod.tvp.pl/live,1/tvp-kryminaly,2543050) [](https://vod.tvp.pl/live,1/tvp-milosc,2724087) [](https://vod.tvp.pl/live,1/tvp-barwy-szczescia,2543014) ©2026 Telewizja Polska S. A. w likwidacji ### We respect your privacy Telewizja Polska S.A. w likwidacji processes your personal data collected when you visit individual websites on the tvp.pl Portal (hereinafter referred to as the Portal), including information saved using technologies used to track and store them, such as cookies, web beacons or other similar technologies enabling the provision of tailored and secure services, personalize content and advertising, provide social media features and analyze Internet traffic. Click "I accept and go to the website" to consent to the use of automatic tracking and data collection technology, access to information on your end device and its storage, and to the processing of your personal data by Telewizja Polska S.A. w likwidacji, [Trusted Partners from IAB\* (1143 company)](https://tvpworld.com/92091959/russias-elite-hit-squad-foiled-by-google-translate) and other [Trusted TVP Partners (93 company)](https://privacy-policy.tvp.pl/38078861/trusted-partners), for marketing purposes (including for automated matching of advertisements to your interests and measuring their effectiveness) and others, which we indicate below. The purposes of processing your data by TVP S.A. w likwidacji are as follows: 1. Store and/or access information on a device 2. Use limited data to select advertising 3. Create profiles for personalised advertising 4. Use profiles to select personalised advertising 5. Create profiles to personalise content 6. Use profiles to select personalised content 7. Measure advertising performance 8. Measure content performance 9. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 10. Develop and improve services 11. Use limited data to select content 12. Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 13. Deliver and present advertising and content 14. Save and communicate privacy choices TVP S.A. w likwidacji process your data for the purposes of features. As part of these features, we may take the following actions: 1. Match and combine data from other data sources 2. Link different devices 3. Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically The purposes of processing your data by Trusted Partners from IAB and other Trusted Partners of TVP are as follows: 1. Store and/or access information on a device 2. Use limited data to select advertising 3. Create profiles for personalised advertising 4. Use profiles to select personalised advertising 5. Create profiles to personalise content 6. Use profiles to select personalised content 7. Measure advertising performance 8. Measure content performance 9. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 10. Develop and improve services 11. Use limited data to select content 12. Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 13. Deliver and present advertising and content 14. Save and communicate privacy choices Trusted Partners from IAB and other Trusted Partners of TVP process your data for the purposes of features and special features. As part of these features, they may take the following actions: 1. Match and combine data from other data sources 2. Link different devices 3. Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 4. Use precise geolocation data 5. Actively scan device characteristics for identification Consent is voluntary and you can withdraw it at any time in [Advanced Settings.](https://tvpworld.com/92091959/russias-elite-hit-squad-foiled-by-google-translate) In addition, you have the right to request access, rectification, deletion or limitation of data processing. In the [Privacy Policy](https://polityka-prywatnosci.tvp.pl/), you will find information on how to communicate to us your will to exercise these rights. Consent to the use of data for some [IAB Trusted Partners](https://tvpworld.com/92091959/russias-elite-hit-squad-foiled-by-google-translate) and [TVP Trusted Partners](https://privacy-policy.tvp.pl/38078861/trusted-partners) may be related to the transfer of data to the United States or other third countries (not belonging to the European Economic Area, which includes the Member States of the European Union as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). In connection with the above, we would like to inform you about the possible risk that may be associated with the transfer of data to third countries, consisting in the possible lack of an adequate level of protection of natural persons related to the processing of their personal data, which is guaranteed by the provisions of the GDPR (Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46 / EC), due to the lack of an adequacy decision by the European Commission and the lack of adequate security. The user's personal data processed by TVP may be processed both on the basis of the user's consent as well as on the basis of a legitimate interest, i.e. without the consent of the Portal user (only for the purposes necessary to ensure the proper operation of the Portal). TVP processes user data on the basis of a legitimate interest only in situations where it is necessary for the provision and proper operation of the Portal, i.e. maintenance and technical support of the Portal, ensuring security, preventing fraud and removing errors, statistical measurements necessary for the proper functioning of the Portal. Detailed information on the processing of your data can be found in the [Privacy Policy](https://polityka-prywatnosci.tvp.pl/). Advanced settings Enable All and Enter our Website Remove Consents

Key leaders in a new Russian elite hit squad have been identified after a series of “idiotic” mistakes, including the arrest of one officer running their agent using Google translated messages, a new investigation claims. *The Insider* website investigated the origins and work of Center 795, which was founded following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and after several “operational blunders” connected to Unit 29155, responsible for the 2018 Salisbury nerve-agent attack in the UK. The outlet said the entity is staffed by elite units from Russia’s [GRU foreign military intelligence agency](https://tvpworld.com/91616936/russia-using-wagner-group-to-recruit-vulnerable-europeans-for-nato-sabotage) and the internal security and counterintelligence agency, the FSB. It totals around 500 officers. Center 795 is “Russia’s newest and most secretive assassination directorate, designed, according to leaked Russian intelligence documents, to be impossible to detect,” *The Insider* reported. Considerable effort was made to ensure that the group could not be compromised electronically, as several previous Russian intelligence operations had been. It was also reportedly embedded inside arms manufacturer Kalashnikov Concern, for extra cover. What they had not accounted for – according to the report – was the “linguistic incompatibility” of their agents.  Denis Alimov and Darko Durovic had their first meeting at a restaurant by the FSB’s Lubyanka building headquarters in Moscow. Photo: Mark A. Wilson via Wikimedia Commons **‘Catastrophic’ solution** Center 795 handler Russian Denis Alimov and his US-based Serbo-Croatian speaking agent, Darko Durovic, did not speak each other’s languages well enough for “operational communication” of a “murder-for-hire plot”. US federal prosecutors allege Alimov recruited Durovic as his “primary field asset” for an operation focusing on the assassination of members of the Chechen diaspora in Europe who sought independence from Russia. Alimov allegedly offered Durovic a bounty of \$1.5 million for each target either dead or deported. “Their solution was straightforward and, as it turned out, catastrophic: they used Google Translate,” the investigation says. Durovic's Serbian field reports and Alimov's Russian instructions were transmitted through encrypted applications that the men believed to be secure. However, [Google operates on servers](https://tvpworld.com/92091959/Wo%C5%BAniak,%20Micha%C5%82%20https://tvpworld.com/91671288/russia-google-hit-for-over-quintillion-euros-in-penalties) in the United States which the FBI can access with a surveillance warrant. Investigators were able to access “every instruction and status report” in “legible, timestamped entries.” “It was, as a source close to the investigation later noted, even better than a wiretap because it arrived transcribed,” *The Insider* wrote. The information comes from a newly unsealed U.S. grand jury indictment.  Denis Alimov was arrested at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota in March 2026. Photo: Juancho Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images **Real name** Durovic also made other errors before his arrest in March 2025. In July and October 2024, he made two trips to Russia but attempted to disguise his visits as holidays to Turkey. The agent booked the flights under his real name. Upon returning to the USA, he was questioned by FBI special agents who had access to his airline records. He denied visiting Russia but the lies “were transparent, and they compounded his legal exposure.” He also used search engines to research what he likely sought as his murder weapon — “Glock 17,” “Glock 21,” “Glock 22” — and where to get a Glock 22 in Montenegro. Alimov was arrested at Colombia’s El Dorado Airport on February 24, 2026. He faces murder and kidnapping conspiracy charges and counts of providing material support to a designated terrorist organization and conspiracy to finance terrorism. **‘Sloppy tradecraft’** *The Insider* said it has exposed the names, corporate histories, and operational roles of those involved in Center 795 through leaked materials, corporate registry records, military documentation, and communications intercepts. The outlet said it will make it “considerably harder” for the unit to continue working in the same way. It added: "The entire unit has been compromised thanks to one operative’s sloppy tradecraft.”