Stationed at Northwood HQ serving NATO, a Spanish commander was sent back to his country after a Tinder romance triggered a security alert.
The unnamed naval officer lived in a Ruislip flat in October 2024 when he swiped right on Russian-born solicitor Janina White – unaware it would eventually lead to the revocation of his access at the headquarters.
Ms White, 49, first raised suspicions at Northwood HQ when she attended a Christmas party in 2024 after having moved into the officer’s flat two weeks into the relationship.
Both Spanish and UK authorities are believed to have launched separate investigations into the couple in early 2025, before the commander saw his HQ access wiped in June last year, and his duties in the country surplus to requirements a month later in July.
Almost two years have passed since the dating app match and this information has now become public – ultimately provoking the lawyer to gear up to press charges over what she claims are false accusations about her being a ‘Russian spy’.
Speaking to The Telegraph last month, Ms White said: “I definitely know I am not a Russian spy. The last time I checked I wasn’t.”
Currently based in Romford, East London, the British Polish dual national sees herself as an “unfair victim of discrimination” because of her Russian heritage. She was born in the Soviet Union and moved to Poland as a young girl, then to the UK as a teenager.
Ms White told The Times she was approached by a man claiming to be a Russian intelligence officer in August 2026 while visiting her father in St Petersburg. She said he, who identified himself as Andrei, claimed to work for Russia’s FSB and quizzed her about the security investigation and her relationship with the NATO officer.
She said: “They asked me if I knew anything about [my former partner’s] work. I said no. I knew he was dealing with the Russian shadow fleet and submarines. But it was a total prohibition on discussing any details at home about this.”
The Spaniard, a married father of two who separated from his wife shortly before starting a relationship with Ms White, said he had been subjected to “a gradual and calculated process of social and professional isolation”.
According to court documents, Ms White, the officer and a third person tried to enter Northwood HQ on August 26 last year, even though his security pass had been revoked. They were refused entry and police were called, though no one was arrested.
No longer in a relationship with the former commander, Ms White is seeking a judicial review of why intelligence officials named her a security risk. She has also opened a discrimination case against the Ministry of Defence, claiming she was treated with suspicion because of her birthplace.
Feature image: via The Telegraph
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