The spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, María Zajárova, considered a “high-level absurdity” the statement by Spanish judge Joaquín Aguirre about the 10,000 Russian troops that supposedly should have helped Catalonia to achieve its independence in 2017. “We are used to receiving this type of anti-Russian propaganda” she said. She also warned that this would only worsen Russia’s relations with Spain.

One of the entrepreneurs arrested yesterday in Spain’s newest police raid, Oriol Soler, is supposed to have ties to Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and a Kremlin-sponsored “de-stabilization strategy”, according to the judge’s order that allowed the police operation to take place.

Yesterday, the Russian embassy in Madrid already responded with irony on Twitter, saying that the number of soldiers ready to fly to Catalonia was 1.000.000 instead of 10.000.

‼️ Ojo: La información aparecida en los medios 🗞️ españoles 🇪🇸 sobre la llegada de 🔟 mil soldados rusos a Cataluña está incompleta 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/Y7v3GjlYVm

— EmbajadaRusaES (@EmbajadaRusaES) October 28, 2020