View Full Version : Russian Spies?
Dozer523
06-28-2010, 17:13
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/usa/10-Alleged-Russian-Spies-Arrested-in-United-States-97348779.html
10 Alleged Russian Spies Arrested in United States
The U. S. Justice Department has announced the arrest of 10 people accused of spying for Russia.
Eight of those arrested on Sunday are charged with carrying out long-term, deep cover assignments in the United States on behalf of the Russian Federation.
A total of 11 are accused of involvement in the spy ring. One remains at large.
In court papers, the Justice Department described those charged as "illegals," whose goal was to become sufficiently "Americanized" so that they could gather information about the United States for Russia.
It said the Russian intelligence agency SVR had tasked them with one main mission - to "search and develop ties in policymaking circles" in the United States.
The arrests took place in the states of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Virginia. All those taken into custody are charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General. All but two are also accused of money laundering.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years in prison, while the money laundering charge carries a 20-year maximum sentence.
Here are the "charge sheets" one (http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Complaint_1.pdf) and two (http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Complaint_2.pdf). They're pretty detailed and worth the read.
I guess the Putin-Obama meeting didn't go so well?
Roguish Lawyer
06-28-2010, 18:21
This kinda warms my heart, actually.
I have to watch "burn after reading" again.
"the Russians? Really?" J.K. Simmons kills me.
This kinda warms my heart, actually.
I wonder how many "charm school grads" we didn't catch and are still out there...or are already burrowed in. Kudos to the G-men who worked this case for so long.
CI can drive you nutz.
In the immortal words of John Belushi; "Over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell, no. And it ain't over now."
Maybe now they will issue that Cold War Medal.
Kudos to the G-men, As for the administration it's like some dark comedy, Obama is having a burger with Medvedev asking him to pass the ketchup while we are busting a major Ruskie spy ring, Joe Biden is terrorizing midwestern ice cream vendors, and not one elected official in Washington DC seems to give a hoot that Mexican Drug cartels are now threatening Arizona Police Officers on US soil....
Irish_Army01
06-29-2010, 05:43
Allegations that Moscow ran a spy ring in the US are baseless and a throwback to the Cold War, a Russian foreign ministry official has said.
The claims had set back attempts by President Barack Obama to reset ties with Moscow, the official added.
The response comes a day after 10 people were arrested in the US.
They are accused of conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of a foreign government, a crime which carries up to five years in prison.
Nine of those arrested also face a charge of conspiracy to launder money. An 11th suspect named as "Christopher R Metsos" was being sought and Reuters news agency quoted Cyprus police as saying he had been arrested on the island early on Tuesday.
The 11 were allegedly part of an operation where agents posed as ordinary citizens, some living together as couples for years.
More.. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10445353.stm)
Irish_Army01
06-29-2010, 05:52
I wish foreign Governments would leave the fuck our passports alone..
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0629/breaking22.html
The Government is checking reports that a forged Irish passport may have been used by a member of an alleged Russian spy ring arrested in the US.
The FBI arrested 10 people at the weekend accused of carrying out deep-cover work in the United States to recruit political sources and gather information for the Russian government.
The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed to The Irish Times this morning that a person arrested in the US on suspicion of espionage activities is alleged to have travelled on a forged Irish passport.
The Department said it would be seeking to obtain further information in relation to these reports.
A statement issued by the Department said "the firm position of the Government in regard to the fraudulent use of Irish passports is a matter of public record".
Earlier this month, the Government expelled an official at the Israeli embassy in Dublin in protest over the use of forged Irish passports by suspects in the killing of a Hamas official in Dubai.
The suspects were arrested on Sunday in Boston, New York, New Jersey and Virginia on charges including conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of the Russian Federation and money laundering.
The FBI has arrested 10 people who allegedly spied for Russia for up to a decade - posing as innocent civilians while trying to infiltrate US policymaking circles and learn about weapons, diplomatic strategy and political developments.
An 11th defendant - a man accused of delivering money to the agents - remains at large.
It is not known how successful the agents had been, but they were alleged to have been long-term, deep cover spies. Among them were four couples living in suburbs of New York, Washington and Boston. One woman was a reporter and editor for a prominent Spanish-language newspaper in New York whom the FBI says it videotaped contacting a Russian official in 2000 in Latin America.
These deep-cover agents are the hardest spies for the FBI to catch and are dubbed "illegals" in the intelligence world because they take civilian jobs with no visible connection to a foreign government, rather than operating from government jobs inside Russian embassies and military missions. In this case, they were spread out and seeking a wide swath of information.
The FBI said it intercepted a message from Moscow Center, headquarters of Russia's intelligence service, the SVR, to two of the defendants describing their main mission as "to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US." Intercepted messages showed they were asked to learn about a wide range of topics, including nuclear weapons, US arms control positions, Iran, White House rumors, CIA leadership turnover, the last presidential election, Congress and the political parties.
The arrests of alleged deep cover agents following a severa- year-long FBI investigation could rival the bureau's famous capture of Soviet Col. Rudolf Abel in 1957 in New York.
Also a deep cover agent, Abel was ultimately swapped to the Soviet Union for downed U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers in 1962.
The court papers also described a new high-tech spy-to-spy communications system allegedly used by the defendants: short-range wireless communications between laptop computers — a modern supplement for the old-style dead drop in a remote area, high-speed burst radio transmission or the hollowed-out nickels used by Abel to conceal and deliver microfilm.
But there was no lack of Cold War spycraft. According to the court papers, the alleged agents used invisible ink, stayed in touch with Moscow Center through coded bursts of data sent by a radio transmitter, used innocent-looking "brush" encounters to pass messages in public, hid encrypted data in public images and relied on fake identities and false travel documents.
On Saturday, an undercover FBI agent in New York and another in Washington, both posing as Russian agents, met with two of the defendants, Anna Chapman at a New York restaurant and Mikhail Semenko on a Washington street corner blocks from the White House. The FBI undercover agents gave each an espionage-related delivery to make. Court papers indicated Semenko made the delivery as instructed, but apparently Chapman did not.
The court papers cited numerous communications intercepted by the FBI that spelled out what information was sought.
The timing of the arrests was notable given the efforts by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev to "reset" US-Russia relations. The two leaders met last week at the White House after Mr Medvedev visited high-tech firms in California's Silicon Valley, and both attended the G-8, G-20 meetings over the weekend in Canada
http://blogs.forbes.com/work-in-progress/2010/06/29/anna-chapman-russia-spy-or-real-estate-whiz/
This spy had a $2M real estate business going, spoke russian on youtube and facebook, and posted several pics. Definitely not "Our Man Flint".
The face (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/galleries/anna_chapman_one_of_the_alleged_russian_spies_arre sted_by_the_fbi/anna_chapman_one_of_the_alleged_russian_spies_arre sted_by_the_fbi.html) of the SVR.
And for those of who remember and miss the Cold War...
Richard :munchin
Utah Bob
07-01-2010, 10:01
Based on some clips I've seen on the news it appears the average bozo on the street thinks this is kind of silly, that the Cold War is over, and the Russians are no threat.:rolleyes: :mad:
Based on some clips I've seen on the news it appears the average bozo on the street thinks this is kind of silly, that the Cold War is over, and the Russians are no threat.:rolleyes: :mad:
I was young when the wall came down and with it the so called end of the cold war. I can tell you that my generation definately does not have the fear of Russia or of Communism or nuclear war for that matter that say my parents have.
Growing up now I would say most of my generation probably have the outlook ,that many had against Russia during the Cold War, towards "Terrorists."
Terrorists being the generic term for a nameless turban wearing evil guy from Durka Durka'stan. (I'm not saying this is the only type of terrorist, just my guess on how my generation pictures a "terrorist.")
I wish more people my age that arn't in the military and even I'm sure some that are, really spent time thinking about the threats that exist in the world, but I'm sorry to say that most people my age could tell you more about Jersey Shore, then why China might be the most dangerous kid on the block.
Nothing you don't already know I'm sure, just my $.0002
Terrorists being the generic term for a nameless turban wearing evil guy from Durka Durka'stan. (I'm not saying this is the only type of terrorist, just my guess on how my generation pictures a "terrorist.")
I wish more people my age that arn't in the military and even I'm sure some that are, really spent time thinking about the threats that exist in the world, but I'm sorry to say that most people my age could tell you more about Jersey Shore, then why China might be the most dangerous kid on the block.
I couldn't tell you how right you are. Now-a-day "terrorist" is an exclusive term meaning Al Queda, when in reality the definition of a terrorist, is an individual who uses terror as a political weapon. These Russian spies create fear and uncertainty in the eyes of the typical American who actually pays attention to the news. May just be my 0.02 but isn't that fitting of the definition?
All Americans who believe that Russia is not dangerous, need to take into consideration that a presidential meeting means nothing. Medvedev is not a president IMHO, He's a puppet. No matter how much the media tells you about Russia being a peaceful and understanding nation is prop.
Now, I'm in NO way saying that Russia is a horrible country, but to underestimate them would be a dire mistake. I believe I speak for most, if not all of us, when I say that I would rather be at war with an organization like Al Queda than an organized, trained, nation such as Russia.
Maybe there won't be COMPLETE peace between the US and Russia, but at least we can get to the point where we "agree to disagree" and run our countries the way we want to, instead of both of the countries edging each other to follow their respective systems of government and economics.
Back to the main topic... These spies should be (and are if i'm not mistaken..) classified as terrorists. American spies would be treated the same way, if not a little more "inhumanely", in Russia.
:munchin
I can tell you that my generation definitely does not have the fear of Russia...
That's ok: Russia is harmless (except in the winter) but a Russian...a clear and present danger to the American way of life. They're simply waiting for us to implode here at home and they are doing what they do against us overseas.
I don't trust 'em...at all. I would go so far as to ask "why were these illegals "allowed" to be caught"? Was it poor tradecraft? Were they simply sacrificed as a distraction in order to enable other operations?
The latest news is one of the accused has even confessed. Huh? Why would they do that? I can only imagine SVR's SERE training...shudder!
Surf n Turf
07-03-2010, 17:08
And for those of who remember and miss the Cold War...
Richard :munchin
Richard,
I have not seen “spy vs spy” nor Boris and Natasha in many years.
I had a desk ornament of "spy vs spy" on my desk for years.
I remember, but do not miss the Cold War :D
SnT
incarcerated
07-03-2010, 19:17
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/29/russian-spies-cold-war-levels
Russian spies in UK 'at cold war levels', says MI5
Espionage now focused on nation's 'energy policies and new technologies rather than political and military intelligence'
Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 29 June 2010 22.24 BST
The uncovering of the spy ring in the US is unlikely to surprise MI5. In recent years the agency has been building up its counter-espionage arm against Russian and other foreign spies for the first time since the end of the cold war, according to counter-intelligence officials.
Though its priority remains the threat from extreme Islamist and al-Qaida inspired terrorism, MI5 officers have been switched to counter more traditional tasks against foreign states whose intentions are considered hostile, officials say.
"The number of Russian intelligence officers in London is at the same level as in Soviet times", MI5 says on its website. It does not say how many there are but counter-intelligence officers have told the Guardian that 30 agents are operating out of the Russian embassy and trade mission in London.
Russia is interested in particular in the energy policies of the west, given the importance of its own oil and natural gas reserves, and the Kremlin's determination to use them as an instrument of foreign policy, the officials said. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, is a former chairman of Gazprom, Russia's giant energy company.
Though Britain is less dependent on energy imports than continental countries, both Labour and the coalition government has highlighted the issue in their national security strategies.
They have made the point that Russia and China were making control of energy supply a foreign policy priority.
MI5 says on its website: "We estimate that at least 20 foreign intelligence services are currently operating in the UK against UK interests. The Russian and Chinese intelligence services are particularly active, and currently present the greatest concern."
It adds: "The threat of espionage (spying) did not end with the collapse of Soviet communism in the early 1990s. Espionage against UK interests continues from many quarters."
"In the past, espionage activity was typically directed towards obtaining political and military intelligence. In today's high-tech world, the intelligence requirements of a number of countries now include new communications technologies, IT, genetics, aviation, lasers, optics, electronics and many other fields. Intelligence services, therefore, are targeting commercial enterprises far more than in the past".
MI5 continues: "The UK is a high priority espionage target and a number of countries are actively seeking UK information and material to advance their own military, technological, political and economic programmes."
Counter-intelligence sources say while the specific threat of cyberwarfare comes from China, Russia is after a raft of information, ranging from the analyses of the political scene in Westminster to high-tech weapons systems.
"The threat from Russian espionage continues to be significant and is similar to the cold war", a counter-terrorism official said yesterday....
BrainStorm
07-04-2010, 01:42
I wish more people my age that arn't in the military and even I'm sure some that are, really spent time thinking about the threats that exist in the world, but I'm sorry to say that most people my age could tell you more about Jersey Shore, then why China might be the most dangerous kid on the block.
Sounds like an opportunity for new plot lines for Burn Notice.
Detonics
07-04-2010, 15:49
I'm just hoping they picked up all their ah... "luggage"
I'm shocked, SHOCKED to hear of this doncha' know! Maybe "Pootie-Poot" (GW's pet name for the former KGB Officer turned Prime Minister, Vladamir Putin) didn't know about this.
We have so many vultures waiting to pick over the bones.:confused: