Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, a former U.S. Army Special Forces Captain and Florida resident, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 14 May 2021 for willingly providing national defense related information to Russian intelligence. Debbins admitted to conspiring with agents of Russia from 1996 to 2011, and began working with Russian handlers who urged him to join the U.S. Army and attempt to get into Special Forces. Debbins served in the U.S. Army from 1998 to 2005, eventually getting accepted into Special Forces and attaining the rank of Captain before leaving the service.
During the joint U.S. Army Counterintelligence (ACI) and FBI investigation, it was revealed that Debbins provided Russia with sensitive and classified information including information regarding Special Forces units, activities, and names/information of his former Special Forces team members. Over the course of the espionage activity that continued even after Debbins left the Army, he provided foreign agents with information to benefit Russia. Debbins would even periodically travel to Russia to meet with his handlers directly to facilitate the information exchange. Despite growing up in Minnesota, Debbins is a self-described “son of Russia” who was known to Russian GRU (their military intelligence service) by the codename "Ikar Lenikov."
In a letter to the sentencing judge, seeking a reduced sentence, Debbins wrote that he had a very troubled childhood resulting from many things, including witnessing his own mother suffering from Parkinson's disease. Additionally, Debbins stated in the letter that he was homosexual, and that he only started collaborating with Russian intelligence due to fears that they would publicly reveal this information.
However, investigators and prosecutors on this case firmly believe that Debbins did more than he admitted to, and that he is simply trying to alleviate himself of responsibility by playing "the victim." The investigation revealed that Debbins had an interest in Russia at an early age, long before he considered joining the U.S. Army. This may have begun with his own mother, who was of Russian descent herself. Records also demonstrated that he traveled to Russia for the first time at age 19, as a foreign exchange student. When first approached by Russian intelligence in 1996, Debbins was engaged to a Russian woman. “Rather than expressing remorse for acting with this criminal intent, Debbins attempts to disclaim it altogether in his letter to the court, which is incompatible with acceptance of responsibility,” the prosecution wrote.
“Debbins violated his oath as a U.S. Army officer, betrayed the Special Forces, and endangered our country’s national security by revealing classified information to Russian intelligence officers, providing details of his unit, and identifying Special Forces team members for Russian intelligence to try to recruit them as spies,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Department's National Security Division.
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