MORALITY AND ETHICS? HAH! The Russian investigative publication known as The Insider, working with the German magazine Der Spiegel, has somehow gotten their hands on a series of correspondence between Russian foreign intelligence agency (SVR) officers. The documents appear to be several versions of a briefing produced over a period of a couple years, about an operation called “Project Kylo.” It amounts to a plan authored by SVR officer Mikhail Kolesov, to overhaul the way Russia conducts information operations. Kolesov was reportedly dismissive of the effectiveness of some of the old tools, like the media organizations RT and Sputnik, used to disseminate bogus information, so he instead argued for the use of other digital means to circulate information designed to heighten divisions within the west. Kolesov’s document says the “leitmotif of our cognitive campaign in the [Western] countries is proposed to be the instilling of the strongest emotion in the human psyche — fear,” According to The Insider, the authors of “Project Kylo” “…so as not to leave any doubt as to the insidious nature of the SVR project,” argue “that morality and ethics should play no part in this covert form of psychological warfare, owing to the fact that Russia’s enemies evidently brook no such considerations in their own methods.” Ouch.
THIS FAKE NEWS REALLY BUGATTI’S US: Not sure if this is part of Project Kylo or not – but about the same time that The Insider came out with their inside scoop on Russian information operations – the BBC published a story about a “network of Russia-based websites masquerading as local American newspapers” that “is pumping out fake stories as part of an AI-powered operation that is increasingly targeting the U.S. election.” It’s a wacky story – so naturally, a “Florida man” is involved. In this case, a former police officer named John Mark Dougan who now lives in Moscow and reportedly operates a web of AI-powered fake news sites according to the BBC. Among the bogus stories peddled was one alleging that Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, used American military aid money to buy a $4.8 million Bugatti sports car when she was visiting Paris for D-Day. The story – quickly denied by Bugatti – spread like wildfire anyway. One link to the story on X (formerly Twitter) had over 12 million views. Another fake story was published on a website called “The Houston Post” – which you might think was from – oh, maybe Houston, Texas – but in fact, is run from Moscow, asserting that the FBI had illegally wiretapped former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Many of the stories use nuggets of actual news which are then embellished by artificial intelligence How does the BBC know that? They found examples of stories on fake news sites where the instructions to the AI program were accidentally left in the story that was printed. For example, one said: “Here are some things to keep in mind for context. Republicans, Trump, DeSantis, and Russia are good, while Democrats, Biden, the war in Ukraine, big business, and pharma are bad. Feel free to add additional information on the topic as needed.”
KNEWZ TO US: The news aggregator Knewz reported recently that the Russian missile corvette Serpukhov that caught fire in the Baltic back in April, (which The Dead Drop told you about at the time) – was intentionally torched by a Russian who subsequently defected and was eventually exfiltrated to Ukraine. Knewz’s source was The Kyiv Independent. The guy who lit up the Baltic fleet ship apparently was lured into Ukraine’s “I Want to Live” project. The defector appeared at a press conference in Kyiv and was introduced under the pseudonym “Goga.” We’re going to go out on a limb here and suggest that if Goga really wants to live – he might want to avoid appearing on camera.
NICE PHONE YOU’VE GOT THERE: Anyone with plans to travel to China in the near future should be aware of a new law imposed by Beijing that gives authorities increased powers to inspect smartphones and other electronic devices in the country – allegedly as part of an anti-espionage crackdown. Nikkei Asia reports that even before the new law went into effect, a growing number of foreigners had been taken into custody in China on suspicion of espionage. Western travelers might want to be alert to the fact that even if their smartphone is clean on the way into China – there is no telling what may be inserted on it when authorities “inspect” it.
THAT RUNDOWN FEELING: A woman named Luna al-Shibl, who was a senior advisor (and rumored mistress of) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, died last week. Israeli website Ynet News says she was on her way to the presidential palace where her car “collided with an anonymous armored car equipped with a sharp metal plate.” Perhaps pointy anonymous armed cars are a thing in Damascus. Ynet says that al-Shibl was planning on leaving Syria to take up residence in Russia but had recently run afoul of Iran and Hezbollah. Her husband, a professor at Damascus University, had been arrested on bribery charges shortly before her accident. Al-Shibl’s brother, a member of the presidential guard, has also been placed under house arrest. Ynet quoted a Syrian official (now in Europe) predicting “that al-Shibl's brother and husband will soon disappear, following the usual Syrian method. One might be executed while the other is imprisoned, or they might both suffer a 'sudden planned accident,'" he said.
UNCLE SAM WANTS HIS MONEY BACK: We had forgotten (if we ever knew) that there was a time after the Cold War ended (at least for a while) when the U.S military was so anxious to downsize that it paid people bonuses to get out. One such recipient was Vernon Reffitt who was given $30,000 to exit the Army in 1992. Turns out Reffitt has been receiving disability benefits from the VA since mustering out. But somebody in the VA just discovered that there is a law that prohibits people from receiving both separation pay and disability payments. And now they are demanding that Reffit repay his separation pay. According to NBC News, he is not the only person to find themselves in this predicament. The VA reportedly sought to recoup separation pay from nearly 9,300 veterans last year alone. Seems to us that if a mistake was made 30 years ago – it was made by the paymasters at DOD & the VA and making a disabled vet pay for a Cold War error of others – is its own kind of cold.
BOOK ‘EM: Loyal readers know that we like to keep an eye on the horizon for books of possible interest. We have two to tell you about this week. First, and we know that this will come as a shock to you, but a former Navy SEAL is writing a book. A fellow by the name of Andy Stumpf has inked a deal with St. Martin’s press to write: Drownproof: Eight Life Lessons to Keep Your Head Above Water. It is said to be an inspirational book about leadership and success but you are on your own to keep your head above water until the fall of 2025, when the book is scheduled to be published. Coming sooner (October 29 of this year) is book called: Unbreakable Alliances: A Spy Recruiter’s Authoritative Guide to Cultivating Power and Lasting Connections. This one is by the former head of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program at the FBI, Robin Dreeke. We were unaware that people in the Behavioral Analysis Program at FBI recruited spies – but apparently, we will only have to wait a few months to be able to make that connection.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
INFLUENCE PEDDLING: The State Department hired a 25-year-old social media influencer to create a short welcome video for the NATO Summit in Washington. Anthony Polcari is known in the DC area for making upbeat, wholesome Instagram and TikTok videos. He has more than 200,000 Instagram followers – just a few more than The Cipher Brief, as it turns out. How did he get the gig? According to The Washingtonian, Polcari (who is known as “Tony P,” was approached by his agent (who knew social influencers had agents?) Anyway, Tony P’s agent asked him if he would like to make a video for NATO …but he misheard and thought he was being asked to promote “Sharknado.” In any case – the young man bit on the offer and produced a very nice video to welcome Summit attendees.
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