The Russian-Born Tinder Match that Cost a Spanish Commander His NATO Clearance
The officer’s access was suspended after security concerns arose over visits to Northwood and a later attempt to enter the base, court papers said.
- On June 19, 2025, a Nato commanding officer revoked a Spanish naval officer's access pass at Northwood after security concerns arose over his relationship with White, a woman of Russian heritage.
- The couple began their relationship in October 2024, and on December 12, 2024, the Spaniard obtained an escorted visitor pass for White to attend a social event at Northwood's Warrant Officers' and Senior Rates' mess.
- Spanish authorities terminated the officer's posting to Marcom on July 29, 2025; weeks later, on August 26, he and White attempted to enter Northwood, purportedly to have lunch despite his suspended access.
- The Spaniard, citing '35 years of exemplary, unblemished service,' complained to Vice-Admiral Mike Utley that he was 'subjected to a gradual and calculated process of social and professional isolation.'
- White denies spying, claiming a Russian Federal Security Service officer named Andrei interrogated her last month in Petersburg about the Nato investigation, complicating the narrative surrounding her alleged security risk.
97 Articles
97 Articles
A senior Spanish naval officer's affair with a woman he met on the dating app Tinder has sparked a major security investigation at a UK military base, The Telegraph reports, amid suspicions that his partner may be working with Russia.
A relationship initiated in Tinder ended up alerting NATO security services. The presence of a woman born in Russia in a celebration within a military base triggered an investigation that ended with a Spanish military officer without security accreditation and returning to Spain.
In the center of the case is a Spanish officer posted at the headquarters of the Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), in Northwood, United Kingdom, and the relationship that began in late 2024 with Janina White, a 49-year-old woman, a British and Polish citizen.
A high-ranking Spanish naval officer's love affair with a woman he met on Tinder has raised security concerns at one of the most important NATO bases in Europe. Janina White, a British-Polish citizen born in the former Soviet Union, was suspected of spying for Russia. NATO and Spanish authorities launched security investigations, the officer lost his security clearance and had to leave his command. But almost two years later, White has not been …
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