According to a source at the Russian Embassy in Budapest who spoke with The Insider, two individuals are directly responsible for assisting Orbán in his upcoming election. On the intelligence front, there is Naval Attaché Colonel Alexei Zarudnev (who is assigned to the GRU headquarters on Khoroshevskoye Shosse in Moscow, Military Unit 45807). And for relations with the local press and public relations, there is Minister Counselor Tigran Garibyan.
Colonel Zarudnev was born in 1977 in the city of Volzhsk in Russia’s Volgograd Region. He began his service in the GRU’s 232nd Separate Special-Purpose Radio Battalion (Military Unit 30734), located in the city of Ostrogozhsk in the Voronezh Region. The unit’s personnel engaged in electronic intelligence and supplied intercepted data to the General Staff. In 2011, he enrolled in the Frunze Military Academy, and enforcement orders from Russia’s Federal Bailiff Service regarding loan debts and traffic fines were sent to his address at the officers’ dormitory, address 4 Devichye Pole Lane. After graduating from the academy, Zarudnev successfully passed tests and special screenings before enrolling in the 2nd Faculty of Agent-Operational Intelligence at the Military-Diplomatic Academy (MDA), which trains officers for service in military attaché offices. As shown by flight records, Zarudnev began flying regularly to Hungary starting in 2015.
