More and more information is coming to light regarding the case of the Air Force commander who was arrested for espionage charges. As it becomes known, since last October, the National Intelligence Service (EYP) had been monitoring the treacherous Air Force commander and director of the 128th Combat Wing at Kavouri, who was selling classified telecommunications and digital and electronic applications information to China in exchange for payment. The arrested senior officer, who was taken to the Air Force Court, during his interrogation – according to ERT – “broke” and confessed everything, while he even named his Chinese “handler” who is located in China.
Espionage case: Video from the exit of the air commander accused of espionage from the Air Force Court
Provision allows for revocation of Greek citizenship
In the recent law 5265/2026 of the Ministry of National Defense, Nikos Dendias had foreseen the inclusion of a special article that provided for the imposition of the harsh measure of revocation of Greek citizenship for those who commit the crime of espionage against the Hellenic Republic. With article 298 of the law “Charter of Transition of the Armed Forces to the New Era,” espionage was transformed into a crime for which a Greek citizen can lose their citizenship due to the violation of state secrets and the transmission of these military secrets to third countries.
It is noted that the 53-year-old air commander, who was arrested yesterday on charges of espionage, was taken to the Air Force Court in Ambelokipi this morning. According to information, the EYP had placed the 53-year-old under surveillance for the last four months, since October 2025, while recently the Air Force officer appears to have collected a massive volume of confidential material. The investigation began after information received by the National Intelligence Service from a foreign service, which indicated that there was a possibility that a Greek was leaking military information to a person with Chinese interests.
Espionage case: What the Air Force commander’s lawyer declared
During the Air Force commander’s departure from the Athens Air Force Court, his lawyer mentioned that he was cooperative and calm. “We got a deadline for Tuesday, February 10, when our client will give his testimony. I have nothing else to tell you given that we must study the case file and whatever we have to say we will say to the investigator,” declared his lawyer Vasilis Cheirdaris. When asked about the air commander’s condition, he argued that “he is calm and believes that the justice that must be served will be served. We will tell the investigator.”
The Air Force commander is accused of collecting and transmitting secret information of military significance to third parties, with the risk of causing damage to national interests. Furthermore, criminal proceedings were initiated against him and he was placed on leave, with a related decision by the chief of the General Staff of National Defense (GEETHA), General Dimitrios Choupis. However, what is of great importance is the fact that the Air Force officer admitted to investigators the name of one of his accomplices from China, whom the Greek authorities had already identified after thorough investigations.
Air Force commander interrogation: EYP evidence and investigation
For this case, the EYP utilized information it had received from the CIA about the Greek officer’s suspicious activities and began monitoring him until it collected all the evidence needed for his espionage activities against his own country and allies, and informed GEETHA accordingly.
The operation appears to have been decided just before he prepared to send a new package of information to his “handler” and was arrested at the Air Force unit he commands.
He carried out the transmission of Armed Forces documents and plans using a special device that photographed and sent the documents directly with encrypted software to his “handler” in China. The device and other digital evidence have been confiscated and will be analyzed further.
This is an officer with NATO specialization and certification in telecommunications who had access to such technologies and in his previous service in a staff position, as well as recently, to plans, means and high-technology development programs that the Air Force develops, and he sent this data to the Chinese.
The damage he caused
The damage he caused was both national and allied due to the interconnection of telecommunications and electronic means, while the export of such documents of strategic importance, it is unknown whether they remained only in China’s knowledge or could very well be given from there to any interested party for a price, with further obvious concerns for the country’s immediate enemies.
The operation conducted yesterday by EYP and GEETHA is part of the broader “counterintelligence” operational action carried out since 2014 after the invasion of Crimea and in other European countries, for the dismantling of spy networks operating on behalf of China or Russia and against NATO allies.
In this context, a Chinese spy network was also dismantled in France, while parallel actions are taking place throughout Europe, as in recent years there has been intense interest in infiltration and theft of data of great strategic importance.
The investigation of the treacherous Air Force commander continues, to fully determine the extent of his betrayal against his homeland but also to determine whether he had managed to recruit other person or persons in his espionage activities.
