Adversary Intelligence — 2026-05-11

Argentina Arrests Russian National Linked to Kremlin Disinformation Network

Argentine federal authorities arrested Dmitrii Novikov, 26, on May 1 at a Lanús residence after he entered Argentina on April 12 from Istanbul as a tourist, according to Argentina's Ministry of National Security. Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva named Novikov a senior figure in La Compañía, which Argentine officials describe as a Kremlin-linked network also called Project Lakhta, and a federal judge ordered his detention pending deportation with a permanent re-entry ban. A leaked archive published by openDemocracy and Argentina's Filtraleaks in April 2026 showed La Compañía spent at least $283,100 placing more than 250 articles across 23 Argentine outlets between June and October 2024. The Dominican Republic had detained and released Novikov on similar influence-operation charges in September 2025, The Record reported.

Analysis
Buenos Aires framed the case as immigration enforcement from the outset: deportation, not prosecution, replicating the template the Dominican Republic applied and abandoned in September 2025. Argentina is unlikely to formally charge or extradite Novikov within the next 90 days. The principal residual risk is a symbolic in-absentia indictment under Law 27.401, which Milei's pro-US alignment could incentivize after removal. The "senior figure" label may instead reflect Argentine incentive to inflate an immigration action into a counterintelligence success, per a single Record report. Novikov's departure will not dismantle the network: the April 2026 archive shows spending wound down after January 2025, local collaborators remain unindicted, and the 2009 visa-free agreement stands.

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Argentina arrests Russian linked to Kremlin disinformation - Instagram