DON’T GO RUSSIAN TO JUDGMENT: Last we heard, no charges had been filed – but folks in Rappahannock County, Virginia took notice when a large number of FBI special agents reportedly raided the home of Russian-born American foreign policy adviser Dimitri Simes. The 76-year-old Simes was a long way from his Virginia home at the time – he was in Russia where he says he has been since October 2022. Simes is the former president and CEO of the Center for the National Interest. The New York Post notes that his name was mentioned over 130 times in the 2019 Mueller report on possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election – for which he was a Trump advisor. Simes currently hosts a current affairs show on Russian State TV called “The Big Game.” He reportedly told Russia’s Sputnik International that he thought the raid was a move to try and convince him not to return to the United States – and said the FBI incursion into his home was observed by a large group of civilians – who he presumes were Ukrainian-Americans because – well, because. Russian Media Monitor, Julia Davis, reported that Russian talking heads compared Simes to Scott Ritter – which, apparently, they think is a compliment.
HE SOUNDS NICE: Another Russian-American-Russian was in the news this week. Stanislav Krapivnik who apparently was Russian born – then moved to the U.S. and became an Army officer and is now back in Moscow - appeared on State TV sharing his well-reasoned geopolitical views. Once again, Russian Media Monitor Julia Davis posted some clips, this time of Krapivnik kvetching about Americans saying “These are not people, these are animals.” He also said that: "If we (meaning Russians) want to end this war, we need to completely destroy Ukraine's Armed Forces. Not defeat, but total destruction. Not taking them prisoner. There should be corpses, mountains of corpses!" Krapivnik said. Newsweek says that Krapivnik, who served in the U.S. Army, “defected to Russia in the ‘90s.” We are not sure that “defected” is the right word – but it is pretty clear he didn’t think he could “Be All He Could Be” in the U.S. Army. Whew.
SENDING OUR VERY BEST TO RUSSIA (NOT): Back in March, The Dead Drop told you about a former Massachusetts Air National Guard soldier and city councilor in Holyoke, MA named Wilmer Puello-Mota who disappeared just before he was scheduled to appear in court to answer charges of possession of child pornography, forgery and obstruction of justice. And there were reports at the time that he might have turned up in Russia. Well, reports confirmed. Wilmer has shown up in Russian propaganda videos saying he is now a reconnaissance drone operator for the Russian army. In a video published this week, Puello-Mota boasts about bringing his U.S.-gained expertise to help his Russian hosts: “I’ve definitely been able to apply some of those skills, leadership skills, as well,” he says in the video. The video describes him as a “former American citizen” and shows him with a Russian flag patch on his body armor.
COUSIN VLAD WANTS YOU: It helps to have friends in high places. Media reports say that Vladimir Putin has appointed, Anna Tsivileva, his first cousin once removed, to be “state secretary” in addition to her previous position as deputy minister of defense which she “earned” in June.. She is also chairperson for the state fund for veterans of the world’s longest 3-day special military operation. We guess when your other appointees let you down – you can always turn to family.
DOWN AND DIRTY CALL SIGNS: A Navy E-6B Mercury Airborne Command Post plane took off from Travis Air Force Base in California last week and, according to Task and Purpose, was issued an inflight call sign that might make a sailor blush. The call signs are used by aircrew to communicate with traffic controllers. The E-6B was told to call themselves “IDICK69” – and they did so for a while until their squadron heard about it and ordered an aloft change. Some officials later claimed that called signs are computer generated and claimed it was randomly assigned by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. If so, that computer must have been programmed by some junior high kid. Task and Purpose mentioned other call signs in the past few years issued to KC-135s that contained the word “Boobies” – and another one for a B-1B bomber with a moniker too raunchy to include here.
ARMY ORAL HISTORY: We’ve long known that the U.S. Army has brought many benefits to America – but there was a ‘cavity’ in our knowledge that was just filled by Military.Com. The publication says that most U.S. citizens fought against regular dental hygiene until after World War II when returning U.S. troops “who were forced to brush their teeth as part of the U.S. Army’s strict hygiene and readiness standards” brought the practice home with them.
WHOA, SLOW HORSES: Season 4 of the very popular Apple TV+ series Slow Horses is set to premier on September 4th. The official trailer just dropped and it looks like a blast. A bit of trivia recently dropped on us: Who wrote and performed the Slow Horses theme song? Answer: Mick Jagger. The uplifting lyrics go: “Surrounded by losers, misfits and boozers / hanging by your fingernails / you made one mistake, you got burned at the stake / you’re finished, you’re foolish, you’ve failed…” Motivating lyrics, Mick. We love em.
ONE FOR THE BOOKS: Journalist and author Toby Harnden posted on Instagram and LinkedIn an item about a 1954 photo he acquired showing then-Director of Central Intelligence, Allen Dulles in his office. Harnden zoomed in on the picture to try to identify the titles of books on a bookshelf behind Dulles. What intel did he pick up? Unsurprisingly Dulles’ reading habits skewed toward books about the Soviet Union, communism and nuclear war.
TIRED OF WORDLE? TRY SPYDLE: There is a book coming out in November called Spydle: An Addictive Puzzle Book Packed with Historic Espionage Mysteries. One of the three listed authors is the UK National Archives. The write up on Amazon says that “Britain's leading puzzle master, Dr. Gareth Moore, has plumbed the depths of the UK's National Archives to transform the best in espionage history into 134 thrilling puzzles that you can solve from the comfort of your couch. Decipher encoded messages to stop treason in its tracks, assemble clues to intercept dangerous missives, and put your logic to the test as you uncover enemy locations and support rescue missions.” It sounds like a background in British espionage history might be especially helpful in deciphering some of the puzzles.
SHAMELESS (SELF-PROMOTION) A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT THE CIPHER BRIEF: The Cipher Brief snuck in a new nightcap newsletter not long ago that has a distinctly Dead Drop flair about it. It’s actually called The Cipher Brief’s Nightcap and is the perfect way for a national security nerd to end the day – by getting caught up on all you missed while you were actually working. We do suggest digesting this new newsletter with a real nightcap though. After all, having your head in national security all day can certainly drive you to drink. You can get personalized delivery by signing up here.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
QUEER EYE FOR THE NUKE GUY (AND GAL): A story first reported by Fox News says that Sneha Nair, who was recently appointed as special assistant at the National Nuclear Security Agency, had published a paper shortly before entering government which argued that “queer theory” needs to be applied to American national security – including “queering nuclear weapons.” In the paper, she worried “that qualified applicants with foreign ties have been discouraged from applying to sensitive national security positions and faced barriers to obtaining a security clearance.” Her article which was published in June 2023 says: "Queer theory also identifies how the nuclear weapons discourse is gendered: Nuclear deterrence is associated with ‘rationality' and ‘security,’ while disarmament and justice for nuclear weapon victims are coded as ‘emotion’ and a lack of understanding of the 'real' mechanics of security." Former CIA official Paul Redmond brought the article to The Dead Drop’s attention and commented that “Against such stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.”
TIME TO BRING BACK BELLBOTTOM DUNGAREES? In one of those stories that drives home the impression that the U.S. defense industrial base is having trouble keeping up – we bring you this item from Military.com which reports that the U.S. Navy is running out of pants. Yes, pants. The camouflage Navy Working Uniform (NWU) pants are out of stock at Navy Exchanges. Exactly why is unknown, but officials say it may not be until January or later before the Exchanges are no long short of trousers. Sailors and commands have other options beyond NWUs but you’ve gotta wonder –how the service got caught with their pants down.
WE WOULD BE UNIFORMLY PLEASED IF YOU WOULD SEND NEWS TIPS TO US AT: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com
