MOSCOW. Sept 13 (Interfax) - Former Russian presidential administration official Oleg Smolenkov, who is referred to in the media as a suspected U.S. spy, went on holiday to Montenegro with his family two years ago despite a ban for Russian public servants to visit this country, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax, adding that officials who failed to stop that violation faced administrative sanctions.
"Shortly after Smolenkov's disappearance in June 2017, the relevant agencies opened an inquiry that showed that officials who allowed the presidential administration employee and his family to go on that tourist trip to Montenegro breached that period's ban for public servants of the Russian Federation to visit this Balkan country," the source said.
The ban was introduced in the spring of 2017 due to a worsening of bilateral relations after Montenegro accused Moscow of involvement in a failed coup attempt allegedly staged in Montenegro in the fall of 2016, he said.
"The officials' conduct was qualified as irresponsible and a lack of control. Some of them faced penalties, even ranging to their dismissal," the source said.
It became known later that the official who disappeared together with his wife and three children apparently became a defector, he said.