Russian blogger charged with spying in Albania asks for asylum

FILE PHOTO: Russians Mikahil Zorin and Svetlana Timofeeva attend a preliminary session for the cautionary sentence after being arrested for violating a military facility, in Elbasan, Albania, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Florion Goga

TIRANA (Reuters) - A Russian self-proclaimed blogger arrested last August in Albania on spying charges has applied for asylum in an attempt to escape extradition because she fears persecution in Moscow, her lawyer said on Monday.

Svetlana Timofeeva, 34, was arrested together with another Russian and a Ukrainian on charges of entering the former communist military factory of Gramsh, some 80 km (50 miles) from the Albanian capital Tirana.