Couple face 20 years in jail after posting wedding pictures of spy

WHEN a Russian bride and groom posted their wedding photos online, they thought that they were doing their guests a favour.

But they now face charges of treason after a guest pictured in the crowd turned out to be a spy.

Antonina Zimina and Konstantin Antonents could be jailed for 20 years for compromising the identity of the FSB agent, who was a university friend of the bride.

The state-owned Tass news agency cited an unnamed police source claiming that Ms Zimina notified Latvian intelligence by “sending the photo of this Russian intelligence employee to Latvia via the internet”.

Ms Zimina, who runs an NGO that aims to foster ties between Russia and other Baltic nations, had invited the old friend, identified by her family as “Maxim”, to her 2015 wedding at a restaurant in the western city of Kaliningrad.

Most of the guests were Russians, but there were also Latvian nationals – family from Ms Zimina’s mother’s side.

It is believed that the man in question had too much to drink and was telling guests about his work for the FSB.

He even handed out his cards, Ms Zimina’s father, Konstantin Zimin, told the Kommersant newspaper.

However, the bride’s father insisted that the only thing that his daughter and son-in-law have been implicated with is posting their wedding pictures featuring an FSB agent.

“No one thought this was a crime, because Maxim made no secret of his work,” he said,

He added that numerous photos and videos were posted online by Ms Zimina and the guests.

The Daily Telegraph was unable to contact the couple’s lawyer yesterday.

The FSB has not commented on the case.

The number of treason and spying cases shot up in Russia after the country’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, which triggered international sanctions against Russia and bolstered the internal intelligence community, which is traditionally distrustful of foreigners.