Russian spies are the style again. Especially when one of the spies arrested by the FBI Monday is Anna Chapman. Federal prosecutors accused 11 people of being part of a Russian spy ring that was living within the U.S. under deep cover for 10 years. The moles took roles ranging from mild-mannered suburban couples, stylish young professionals and Anna Chapman, explained by The New York Post as “a 28-year-old divorcee with a masters in economics, an online real-estate business, a fancy financial district apartment and a Victoria’s Secret body.”
To get Russian spies, FBI springs a trap
The assumed Russian spies were detained after an FBI investigation that began at least seven years ago. The New York Times reports that authorities said the Russian spy ring was part of the “Illegals Program,” a long-term operation hatched by the SVR, the successor to the Soviet KGB, to plant Russian spies within the U.S. to collect details and recruit a lot more agents. The supposed secret agents were charged with conspiracy — not to commit espionage, but to fail to register as agents of a foreign government. It was not clear what secrets Russian beauty Anna Chapman actually managed to steal.
Going Hollywood are Russian spies
Prosecutors explained the Russian spies within the Illegals Program were angling for intelligence on the Obama administration’s foreign policy, particularly toward Russia. I was reported by the Associated Press the FBI intercepted a message from KGB successor SVR’s headquarters to two of the 10 suspects describing their mission as “to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US.” Papers submitted in federal court claim some of the Russian spy ring’s members lived married, used invisible ink, coded radio transmissions and encrypted data, and employed Hollywood methods like swapping bags in passing encounters at a train station. The Guardian reports that “Russia’s foreign ministry dismissed the allegations as groundless and unseemly.”
Medvedev/Obama BFF sabotage?
The designed Russian spies were arrested 3 days after Russian president Dmitry Medvedev left the U.S. after a friendly visit with President Obama in Washington. Sergei Lavrov, who’s a Russia’s veteran foreign minister, hinted arrests may be part of an internal U.S. plot to sabotage the Medvedev/Obama friendship and U.S.-Russian relations. Moscow will have to respond in some way. But none of the supposed Russian spies were diplomats– making a classic tit-for-tat expulsion unlikely. Some expect Russia to announce that it has uncovered a spy ring of its own.
Anna Chapman blew her cover
As the FBI noose tightened around the suspected Russian spies, it was reported by the New York Daily News that Anna Chapman realized her cover had been blown. Chapman ran into a Brooklyn Verizon store and bought a cell phone under the name, “Irine Kustov of 99 Fake Street.” It then became obvious to investigators that their cover had been blown also. They started to round up the suspected Russian spies. In court Monday were Chapman and other spies. They could face up to five years in prison if convicted of acting as unregistered foreign agents.
Citations:
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/06/29/world/europe/29spy.html
Associated Press
google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j_Fmz__pKb-YmXtA5fSYdbz6ptRAD9GL0GGO0
The Guardian
guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/29/russian-spy-ring-claims-bilateral-ties
New York Daily News
nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/06/29/2010-06-29_untitled__2spies29m.html
