The couple Elena and Nikolai Šapošnikov bought the titles to the Villa Elena hotel in 2009 by offering the sum of 275,000 euros, according to the findings of an investigation by the Russian investigative journalism team of the website The Insider, published by the Daily Telegraph.

The two Eastern Europeans are also linked to bloody attacks on ammunition depots in the Czech Republic. As Kremlin spies, they acted as informants for members of the Russian secret services.

The hotel that became the home of the Russian GRU security service

In 2010, Nikolai and Elena moved to the Villa Elena Hotel and a year later they started their business. The three-story accommodation was also used as a shelter for members of the Russian GRU security service, according to the findings.

The investigation also said that from 2012 to 2018, at least four members of Unit 29155, the powerful group of the Russian GRU security service aimed at destabilising foreign governments, had stayed at Villa Elena.

The unit’s commander, General Andrei Averyanov, was among those who had stayed at the Greek hotel.

They secured a passage to Russian agents who blew up ammunition depots.

The Šapošnikov couple are being targeted by Prague authorities on charges related to their alleged involvement in helping by securing a passageway in 2014 to Russian agents who blew up at least two ammunition depots in the village of Vrbětice in the southeast of the country in order to prevent the supply of military hardware to Ukraine.

It should be noted that the Czech authorities launched the investigation when they discovered that Elena is the owner of an offshore company in the Marshall Islands and holds two bank accounts in Switzerland.

According to the findings of the investigation, the agents who had the full assistance of Mr and Mrs Šapošnikov were Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga.

These are the two Russians accused by the London government of poisoning the Skripals (father and daughter) with the neurotoxic gas Novichok in Salisbury in 2018. The person who orchestrated the attack was allegedly General Andrei Averyanov.

Double life in the Czech Republic

The Russian website The Insider has concluded that the Šapošnikov couple were a pair of agents without diplomatic cover.

They were living a double life in the Czech Republic, whose government requested their extradition from Greece in 2023 for the warehouse attacks that caused at least two worker deaths.

While Nikolai passed away last February from a heart attack at the age of 62, Elena’s extradition is pending.

Investigative journalism website The Insider believes that Elena had direct contact with Unit 29155 and is believed to have had a role not only in gathering intelligence but also in recruiting agents on behalf of the Kremlin.

In addition, Elena Šapošnikov is alleged to have received a secret Russian passport, like those provided to members of Unit 29155, and has been awarded military honours by Moscow for her role in sabotage operations in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.