Spy Discovered at Heart of US Special Forces, Proudly Claims He Is a 'Son of Russia'
A former Army Green Beret has pleaded guilty to spying for Russia.
From December 1996 to January 2011, Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, 45, of Gainesville, Virginia, “conspired with agents of a Russian intelligence service,” according to a news release from the Department of Justice. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 26 and could face life in prison.
Debbins periodically visited Russia and met with Russian agents, the release said.
“During this time, Debbins sought to help Russia, as he considered himself pro-Russian and a loyal son of Russia,” according to an indictment handed down in August by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division.
The indictment said Debbins’ mother was born in the Soviet Union and that he had met his future wife in Chelyabinsk, Russia, where they got married in 1997.
“Debbins thought that the United States was too dominant in the world and needed to be cut down to size,” according to the indictment. “Debbins provided information to the Russian intelligence agents in 2008 at least in part because he was angry and bitter about his time in the U.S. Army. Debbins further provided this information because he wanted to obtain the Russian intelligence service’s assistance in doing business in Russia.”
Debbins wrote in a confession in 1997 that he gave Russian intelligence a signed statement that said, “I want to serve Russia,” according to the New York Post.
“I had a messianic vision for myself in Russia, that I was going to free them from their oppressive government, so I was flattered when they reached out to me,” Debbins wrote.
He provided Russian agents with information about his chemical and U.S. Army Special Forces units, including classified information, the Justice Department said in its release.
Debbins was paid for the information he supplied, and in one meeting accepted a bottle of Cognac and a Russian military uniform as a gift, according to the indictment.
Debbins was on active duty with the U.S. Army from 1998 through 2005. The Special Forces also are known as the Green Berets, soldiers who specialize in unconventional warfare.
Russia groomed Debbins early, the indictment said.
“In December 1996, an agent of the Russian intelligence service contacted Debbins and asked to meet with him. Debbins met with the agent, and they discussed Debbins’ participation in the ROTC program and his plans for military service,” the indictment said, indicating Debbins chose his career path to join the Green Berets at Russia’s behest.
In response to Wednesday’s guilty plea by Debbins, John C. Demers, assistant attorney general for National Security, said, according to the news release: “Debbins today acknowledged that he violated this country’s highest trust by passing sensitive national security information to the Russians.
“Debbins betrayed his oath, his country, and his Special Forces team members with the intent to harm the United States and help Russia. Debbins’ guilty plea represents another success in the Department’s continuing effort to counter the national security threat posed by our nation’s adversaries, including Russia.”
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, lamented that the United States had “entrusted Debbins with the responsibility and training to protect it from its adversaries.”
“Debbins betrayed that trust and betrayed his fellow service members by conspiring to provide national defense information to Russian intelligence operatives,” Terwilliger said. “I would like to commend our investigative partners for their steadfast and dogged dedication to bringing Debbins to justice and holding him accountable for his crimes.”
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