Long-time BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera recently published a new book, Russians Among Us: Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories and the Hunt for Putin’s Spies.
The book explores the explosive story of Russia’s espionage efforts against the United States and the West and provides riveting details about ten Russian sleeper agents who were arrested in the U.S. in 2010 and were subsequently swapped for four people held in Russia.
The Cipher Brief recently carried a review of the book written by CIA veteran Joseph Augustyn who awarded it four out of four trench coats.
Cipher Brief Under/Cover senior editor Bill Harlow recently had an opportunity to chat with Corera about why he wrote the book and what he learned in the process.
Harlow: Congratulations on your new book. What is it about "Russian illegals" that makes them such excellent fodder for fiction and non-fictional accounts?
Corera: Illegals take the deception involved in spying to another level – living another life as a citizen of another country under another name. The sacrifice involved in being one is enormous but so is the danger they can pose if they are not uncovered. And they are fascinating precisely because you are left wondering who might be one.
Harlow: What did you think of the TV Series ‘The Americans’ which was inspired by the real-life story you tell?
Corera: I loved it. It inevitably dramatizes some elements, but it captures the human and psychological costs of deception, including to those in your own family. What amused me was some of the Russian illegals told me they enjoyed the show a lot (despite some elements inevitably not being realistic), while some of the FBI agents involved in the ‘Ghost Stories’ case finding those same illegals said they could not bring themselves to watch it.
Harlow: Who got the better deal in the 2010 spy swap? After all, the US returned 10 Russian spies and got four (Russians) back.
Corera: The US did. Looking at this as a scoreboard of 10-4 is a mistake. What made this different from many other spy swaps was that Russians were traded for Russians. So, 10 Russian illegals arrested in the US were traded for 4 Russians accused of spying for the West. Imagine if a handful of CIA operatives were arrested in Russia with no diplomatic immunity and to get them out, the US had to release Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames. That is the closest comparison. You could also argue that it was a good thing that there were not more people accused of spying for the US and UK who were languishing in Russian prisons in 2010, who could have been added to the list to be swapped.
Harlow: You make clear that Putin was deeply unhappy about the illegals being arrested. If you were one of the people swapped for them — or some past Russian defector — how worried would you be about possible retribution — as happened with Skripal?
Corera: Putin was very upset at the arrest of ten illegals in 2010 and the resulting swap. He has built his regime on ending the humiliation of the 1990s and demonising enemy spies and lionizing his own. The fact that Sergei Skripal was hunted down nearly eight years after the swap – and after technically being pardoned – suggests the anger has not gone away. Security was increased on the others who were swapped out in the wake of the Skripal poisoning. But there is no doubt that the number one target would be Alexander Poteyev, the SVR officer who provided the intelligence for over a decade which led to the 2010 capture of the illegals.
Harlow: Do you think the response to the Skripal attack by the UK and the West provides any disincentive to the Russians to attack other defectors?
Corera: The weak response to the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 with a radiological poison is now widely seen as a major mistake by the UK. After the Skripal poisoning with a nerve agent there was a desire to take a much tougher line. This time, there was international co-ordinated action to expel Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover. The strength of that seems to have taken the Kremlin by surprise. But that is not the same as saying it is enough to prevent something from happening again. US counter-intelligence officials have told me they think it is a question of ‘when-not if’ something like the Skripal hit is attempted inside the US against a defector and they have been preparing for it.
Harlow: Do you believe there are still Russian illegals running around in the US? If so, has their mission changed?
Corera: There have been significant changes in the illegals programme since the Cold War days. So-called ‘Family’ illegals are harder to deploy with false identities thanks to biometrics and data trails. But there are new options using ‘true name’ illegals as well as co-opted agents and the cyber illegals I talk about in the book. But those people who watch Russian intelligence closely believe illegals are so much part of Russian culture that they are unlikely to stop using them even if their utility has lessened. Their mission will be the same – scout people with access to secrets or the ability to influence events.
Harlow: Is Marina Butina the new model for this generation of Russian spies in the US?
Corera: Butina is an example of some of the shifts in Russian spying. It has become more opportunistic, more fast and loose, than in the past. Someone can be co-opted through the cut-out of an oligarch to carry out the kind of work an illegal did in the past – finding people and influencing events. That means it is even possible that such a person does not even know they are working for an intelligence service.
Harlow: Do you know if the Russians utilize illegals in countries like China? Or elsewhere in Europe (aside from the UK)?
Corera: Directorate S of the SVR has deployed illegals all around the world – from the Middle East to Asia. It is a core part of their intelligence work. A number of those operating in Europe, as well as in the US, were identified thanks to Poteyev’s intelligence. The disruption to the network extended well beyond the 10 picked up in America and counterintelligence officials told me that a decade on, they are still pulling at some of the threads.
Harlow: Do you know the fate of all the returnees?
Corera: You can find out what Anna Chapman is up to by following her on Instagram. Most of the illegals were given jobs with state industries. Vicky Pelaez and Juan Lazaro went to Latin America. ‘Donald Heathfield’ and ‘Ann Foley’ – the closest model for the characters in the Americans appear on TV in Russia occasionally talking about their escapades (Foley, AKA Elena Vavilova has even co-written a fictional account). Others though have taken a lower profile. Meanwhile, the returnees who came from Russian prison to the US and UK have, since Skripal was poisoned, joined him in keeping away from the public eye.
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