New Delhi: A Tinder romance and a date at an office Christmas party led to the upending of a Spanish NATO officer’s career. The reason: his date was suspected of being a Russian spy.
The twists and turns of the ill-fated affair were detailed by The Telegraph on 14 September, which interviewed the woman at the centre of it: Janina White, a UK-Polish dual national born in Soviet Russia. She denies being a spy.
“I definitely know I am not a Russian spy. The last time I checked I wasn’t,” she told the newspaper.
The senior Spanish naval officer, who has not been named, was posted at the Allied Maritime Command (Marcom) at Northwood HQ, Hertfordshire, UK. Marcom monitors maritime activity, including sanctioned oil tankers from Russia.
The two are no longer together but the relationship has left behind a trail of investigations and aftershocks for the former couple as well as allegations of “discrimination”.
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How the relationship came under scrutiny
White and the Spanish officer began dating in October 2024. Two months later, he took her to a Christmas party at Northwood after getting her a one-day escorted visitor pass to the military base. This seems to be where the relationship came under the radar.
Spanish authorities and NATO launched investigations into the relationship in the first half of 2025. Things soon went downhill for the officer. Spain suspended his national security clearance, and on June 19, Northwood’s commanding officer revoked his access pass “pending the outcome of security investigations,” according to The Telegraph. Spanish authorities ended his posting at Marcom by the end of July last year.
Even as this chain of events was unfolding, White reportedly accompanied the officer to a secure NATO base in Oeiras, Portugal, in June 2025, where he was attending a defence event.
White, who is a lawyer, told The Telegraph that she never entered any secure areas at the Portuguese base.
“We entered the base and while he had access to all these super secure computers and data somewhere, I was sitting at the pool drinking coffee and tea enjoying myself,” she said. “I never gained access to any super secret facilities.”
However, The Telegraph cited court documents from a judicial review which said White, the officer and a third person tried to enter Northwood on August 26 last year, even though his security pass had been revoked. They were refused entry and police were called, though neither White nor the officer was arrested or detained.
White said she knew that her partner was dealing with the Russian shadow fleet and submarines, but claimed there was a “total prohibition” on discussing any details about his work at home.
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Allegations of ‘isolation’ and ‘discrimination’
The officer has returned to Spain and is no longer actively working with the navy. In an email to Vice-Admiral Mike Utley, quoted by The Telegraph, he alleged that he had been subjected to “a gradual and calculated process of social and professional isolation” despite his 35 years of “exemplary” service.
In this email he also detailed how his children suffered the repercussions of the investigation:
“Children in the Spanish community, mimicking the conduct of their parents, refused to greet, play with, or socially engage with my children…The psychological toll of this cruelty on my family, with my former partner as well as with my new partner, was enormous.”
White also claimed that her former partner had attempted to take his life in September 2025.
Meanwhile, she has launched a discrimination case against the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), claiming that the accusations against her were on account of her birthplace.
“All my rights were taken away from me because I was born in the wrong country,” she contended. “The whole state machine treated me like an enemy. I want to know why this decision was made, who made it, and I want this decision to be quashed. I want the whole chain to be purified.”
So far there has been no substantial official word on the matter. An MoD spokesperson told The Telegraph: “It would be inappropriate to comment on matters subject to ongoing legal proceedings.”
(Edited by Asavari Singh)