The Spanish Foreign Ministry admitted in 2018 that it had long suspected Russian interference in the 2016-present unrest around Catalonian independence, and had received information from British and U.S. intelligence services that Russia had committed various destabilization operations across Europe, which in Spain focused on Catalonia. In December 2019 investigation by Bellingcat revealed that Denis Sergeev, Alexey Kalinin, and Mikhail Opryshko, suspected members of the GRU’s elite Unit 29155, had traveled to Barcelona at various times during the unrest. There is currently a sealed investigation by the Spanish High Court into Unit 29155’s operations in Spain. The Kremlin has denied any involvement and accused Spanish media of perpetrating an “anti-Russia campaign.”