Lithuanian man sentenced to over 8 years for spying for Russia’s GRU

A Lithuanian court has upheld an eight-year, six-month prison sentence for Eduardas Manovas, an 83-year-old former member of the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), after he was convicted of collaborating with Russia’s military intelligence (GRU) to gather and transmit information on Lithuania’s political, economic, and defence affairs, LRT reports.

According to case materials, Manovas—who holds both Lithuanian and Russian citizenship—systematically collected publicly available data on Lithuania’s domestic and foreign policy, party activities, and national defence capabilities between October 2021 and January 2024. The information was transmitted via Wi-Fi networks from public locations in Šiauliai, northern Lithuania, following instructions from unidentified GRU officers.

Manovas received equipment from the GRU to facilitate the data transfers, prosecutors said. In exchange for his work, he admitted in testimony to receiving $300 in late 2022 for two to three months of activity. Investigators also found he had made repeated trips to Russia between 2002 and 2019—officially to visit relatives—after which he deposited cash into Lithuanian bank accounts under his name. From 2023, following GRU directives, he travelled to Greece and Cyprus to launder funds under strict conspiratorial measures.

The defendant’s lawyer, Mindaugas Barkauskas, challenged the verdict in multiple appeals, arguing that the conviction relied solely on two 2024 reports by Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) without cross-examining the authors as witnesses. Barkauskas claimed this violated Manovas’s right to a fair trial and that no evidence confirmed the alleged financial compensation. However, Lithuania’s Supreme Court rejected the final appeal in March, ruling the lower courts had committed no legal errors. The decision is final and non-appealable.

Manovas was found to have formally agreed to cooperate with the GRU in 2021 during a trip to Russia, where he returned to Lithuania via the Moscow–Minsk train. Prosecutors stated he had pledged to perform tasks assigned by GRU officers, including gathering intelligence of interest to Russian military intelligence while maintaining his political and civic affiliations in Lithuania as cover.