PILOT ERROR: ‘Some people claim there’s a woman to blame, but I know … it’s my own damn fault’ (to paraphrase Jimmy Buffet.) Last week, The Dead Drop included a nugget about the apparent assassination of Russian defector Maxim Kuzminov in Spain. Details are still dribbling out about how the Russians ‘found and fixed’ the pilot who diverted his helicopter to Ukraine in his own ‘defection’ maneuver. Now there is reporting that Kuzminov apparently collected a $500,000 reward for answering the call to defect and thought it would be more fun to live in Spain than Ukraine. Apparently, that’s where he really veered off course. Some Ukrainian media (as recounted in the British press) are reporting that Kuzminov reached out to an old girlfriend in Russia and invited her to join him in Spain. Kuzminov did not get any visits from his old flame but did collect six bullet wounds and was run over by his own car. According to the usually unreliable RT (formerly known as Russia Today) Kuzminov is not being mourned back home. RT says the pilot’s estranged father called his son a “Judas” who sold out his country for a fistful of dollars. “Of course, I expected that to happen to him,” his father said in a video on Telegram. “No country has ever respected a traitor.” The dad added: “But I pity him that he sold out for small change. Betrayed his fatherland, his teammates.” Apparently, the message is – if you are going to sell out the fatherland – you father would like you to ask for “big change.”
THE NERVE OF THOSE GUYS FROM LANGLEY – (and theR.I.P. irony – which apparently died recently in Beijing): Newsweek says China’s spy outfit – the Ministry of State Security (MSS) has accused the CIA of launching an all-out spy ‘war’. The MSS accusation was apparently triggered by comments made by CIA Director Bill Burns in a recent article, saying "China remains the only U.S. rival with both the intent to reshape the international order and the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do so." Burns’ Chinese counterparts are apparently annoyed that the Agency is hiring and training more Mandarin speakers and is pushing back against pushback over their aggressive espionage operation targeting the U.S. Anyone know the Mandarin word for ‘irony’?
DON’T GHOST THE GHOST ARMY: By our count, there were just 336 days between the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Europe and the surrender of Germany (VE Day) on May 8, 1945. One of the many factors in bringing the Allies swift success was the work of the U.S. Army’s 23rd Headquarters Special Troops Unit. According to Military.com, the outfit helped fool the enemy by using “inflatable tanks, trucks and artillery pieces; bogus radio traffic; 500-pound loudspeakers blasting recordings of divisions on the move; and other means of fakery to confuse the Nazis. In the process, it may have saved the lives of 15,000 to 30,000 American troops, according to Army historians.” There is an interesting short video on YouTube showing some of the techniques employed by the unit that became known as “The Ghost Army.” On March 21, fewer than 10 surviving members of that Ghost Army are set to be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. The “Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act” was actually signed by President Biden in February 2022, but apparently it has taken more than two years to get the actual medal minted. Two years to make a medal? Good thing the 23rd Special Troops unit didn’t move that slowly back in the day – or the inscription on the medal might be in German.
SOMETHING STANK IN STOCKHOLM: Sweden had a good week, finally getting approved for NATO membership. But not everything was coming up rosy in Stockholm. Media reports say the headquarters of the Swedish Security Service was evacuated last Friday and as many as eight people were hospitalized after a mysterious odor was detected. Initially, it was thought to be a possible gas leak – although later, officials said no such leak was detected. Cynics thought the culprit might me a Russian provided “Who Me?”- like stink bomb – but there seemed to be no evidence of that either. But wait, now local media is reporting that traces of a “toxic, colorless gas” were indeed detected. According to the Associated Press, “The daily Svenska Dagbladet newspaper said authorities had found traces of phosgene. The gas has a strong odor that can cause vomiting and breathing trouble and was used as a weapon in World War I.”
HOBBY LOBBY: Not again! We were surprised to see that NORAD officials were once again tracking a mysterious high-altitude balloon flying over the United States recently. But Forbes reports that last Friday, fighter aircraft over Utah intercepted the craft and determined that it was likely a “hobby balloon.” Shortly after word of the balloon emerged, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R, GA) posted on X “Shoot down the Spy balloon immediately!!!.” (Insider hint: you can tell that members of Congress are serious when they use three exclamation marks or more.) But the balloon made its escape before anyone could take a shot at it. NORAD said they monitored the hot air device as it “left U.S. airspace overnight.” We’re guessing that means it went north to Canada – unless those “hobby balloons” travel a lot more quickly than we think.
SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION (and other nuggets from inside the halls of The Cipher Brief):
DOWN & UP AGAIN: The Cipher Briefis getting a new look, which means the digital site will be down for a while this weekend. What’s you’re going to see when the site is back up, is pretty amazing. More expert-level insights on what’s happening in the world today, more national and global security reporting and more opportunities to engage with the experts. Come prepared for more of the best that TCB has to offer starting on Monday, March 4.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
RUSSIAN ‘OH’ CLUB: We are not sure if this is a Ukrainian “disinformation” operation, or “information” operations – or just some weird news – but the tabloid The U.S. Sun is reporting that a Russian Army officers’ club in Yekaterinburg (when it is not being used for funerals for high-ranking soldiers killed in Putin’s war in Ukraine) also hosts “wild BDSM parties.” News that events where “Party guests allegedly wore transparent underwear, drank alcohol and used drugs,” apparently got some Putin supporters’ shorts in a knot. One military blogger posted: “Sniff [cocaine], [have anal sex] wherever you want but not in the House of Officers of the Central Military District of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, and….during the war.” C’mon guys. Everyone needs some rules.
C’MON PEOPLE: Back in January, The Dead Drop told you about prospects that a third edition of the “Top Gun” franchise was potentially in the works. We weren’t the only ones who noticed. Someone just pointed out to us, however, that People magazine reported that same week that the new version would follow the highly successful Top Gun: Maverick which they said featured Tom Cruise’s character teaching “a new set of airforce (sic) pilots.” It is bad enough that People mistook naval aviators for Air Force – but they also misspelled “airforce.” C’mon People.
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