KREMLIN SPIN: Putin and company may be trying to put a brave face on the success of their “Special Military Operation” publicly – but behind the scenes they are working to lower expectations. The Russian news outlet “Meduza,” which is currently operating in exile in Latvia, got their hands on guidelines sent by the Putin regime to Russia’s propaganda outfits instructing them on how to handle the expected imminent Ukrainian spring offensive. They were instructed “not to downplay expectations” for Ukrainian success…and to play up the fact that those successes (if they happened) would be the result of Western countries providing military assistance. The propaganda guide also told recipients not to play up the upcoming May 9 Victory Day parades around Russia for security reasons. In Moscow, organizers reportedly plan to skip a traditional part of the procession where marchers carry portraits of their relatives who died in past wars. According to the Daily Beast, some say that's because they fear people will show up with too many portraits of troops who fell in Ukraine over the past year. The Daily Beast also reported that a Ukrainian banker offered a $545,000 reward to anyone who could land a drone in Red Square during the parade with the words “Glory to Ukraine!” painted on it. Maybe those drones allegedly shot down last Wednesday, were just trial runs.
BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO: Leave it to the tabloids to put a dark (mushroom) cloud on things. The publication The Sun carried a report recently speculating that due to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mishandling of the Ukraine situation, he might be killed and Russia “may break up into potentially nuclear armed warring mini-states.” The Sun found Paul Goble, a former CIA and State Department analyst, who made those comments. When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, it became 15 new states. Some of the folks The Sun talked to suggested that what is now Russia, could end up being 32 separate mini-states. Goble speculated that there could be “well over a hundred.” If you work at the Pentagon – that's a nightmare to consider. On the other hand, if you work at the State Department – your chances of becoming an ambassador might go up dramatically.
A SHOT IN THE DARK: Shortly after we read tabloid speculation that the sun may set (violently) on the Putin regime – the Kremlin itself put out word that those nasty Ukrainians had sent two drones to try to assassinate Vlad at zero dark thirty on Wednesday. Russian defenses they said, defeated the drones before they could strike. This raises all kinds of questions like: (1) do they really expect us to believe that? (2) how dumb would the Ukrainians have to be to not know that Putin does not live at the Kremlin and likely wouldn’t be there at 2AM on a Wednesday and (3) how bad are Russian air defenses if they (allegedly) allowed two armed drones to fly undetected all the way from Ukraine to Red Square? We think this could be one information operations mission that needs some PR work.
TAT’S NEWS: It seems military and security services around the world are having to make adjustments to long-held traditions in order to recruit young blood. The latest example – Britain’s domestic security service, MI-5, has inked a new policy which tells applicants that they are now “Welcome to apply if you have tattoos.” They also reportedly offer flex-time with no requirement to work set formal hours.
SPEAKING OF RECRUITING CHALLENGES: We’ve come a long way from “Don’t ask, Don’t tell.” Fox News says the U.S. Navy has used the (uncompensated) services of Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley who performs in drag as “Harpy Daniels” as a “Digital Ambassador.” The program was “designed to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates.” Betcha there are no set formal hours for that role, either.
APPARENTLY, THEY ARE PUTTING DOWN ROOTS: A good sign that folks have decided to make a temporary abode their home is when they stop renting and buy their house. That seems to be the case with the Director of National Intelligence, National Counterterrorism Center and other IC folks who work in Tysons, VA in facilities known as Liberty Crossing I and II. The Feds recently purchased the campus from an outfit known as Peterson Cos. for a low, low price of just $531M. According to public records, the deal closed on March 31. We know all this thanks to “@Shadygrooove.” We have no idea who that is but they must be legit because they have a Twitter blue check mark…either that or they have $8. In any case – Shady says Liberty Crossing 1 was built in 1982 and contains 461,212 square feet of space. The newer Liberty Crossing 2 sports just 358,784 square feet. We’ll let you know if we hear of any housewarming parties.
NEW SECURITY CLEARANCE VETTING TECHNIQUE: Thanks to the folks at Task & Purpose we have come up with a new method to help adjudicate whether young people should be granted top secret clearances. In addition to having them file their SF-76 forms – the government should make them submit photos of their bedrooms. Photos of Airman First Class Jack Teixeira’s crib have now surfaced (leaked?) and in our humble opinion, they scream: “Don’t trust this kid with anything more highly classified than airmail.” Teixeira’s bedroom is decorated in camouflage patterns that look like they were applied by a painter on acid. Check out some of the court photos of Jack’s room for more decorating tips.
GOOD NEWS FOR DIPLOMAT FANS: Not fans of real diplomats, perhaps, but fans of the Netflix series about a newly-appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. The series, starring Keri Russell, just premiered on April 20th and the streamer has already renewed it for a second season. We know people who really love the show, people who hate it – and people who love to hate it. The REAL U.S. Embassy in London tweeted that they factchecked the series and said “the amount they got right might surprise you.” Foreign Policy did the same and said the series gets lots of small details right and a lot of big details wrong. They call it a “more-than-dumb but less-than-brilliant binge watch.” High praise indeed. Politico ran a lengthy story (with some spoilers) quoting career diplomats describing the show as “preposterous” and adding that they “loved it.”
GOOD NEWS FOR MARIA BUTINA FANS: Deported Russian redhead Maria Butina was no spy and you should quit saying those mean things about her. That's what her ex-boyfriend, Paul Erickson says. Erickson pled guilty and was convicted in an unrelated influence operation and was two years into a seven year sentence when he was pardoned by President Trump just before Trump left office. Erickson said in a recently released podcast that his old lover (and current member of the Russian Duma) Butina was badly treated by the U.S. and could have been a “future ally to America in global relations in a post-Putin world..” if she had been treated appropriately.
SO SOON? The U.S. Air Force is making plans to retire their U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft in fiscal 2026. That model aircraft was first flown in 1955, just seven years after the death of Orville Wright (we are not making that up.) The U-2s flying today are a bit newer than the 1955 versions – but safe to say they have a lot of miles on them. Air Force Times says the Air Force currently has 27 U-2s in their inventory and adds that it is not known how the Air Force would “repurpose U-2 pilots” after the airframes enter into a well-deserved retirement.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
ON A POSITIVE NOTE: Government agencies sometimes sift through their old records to find stories to share with the public. Such was the case last week, when the CIA’s website carried a feature about Miles Copeland Jr. who was a stalwart member of the OSS and founding member of the Central Intelligence Agency. We learned that he spoke ten languages and was also a highly skilled jazz trumpeter. His three sons, Miles III, Ian and Stewart all had successful music careers – Stewart becoming the drummer for the band, The Police. We think maybe little features like this are a good way for agencies to 'toot their own horns'. (See what we did there?)
IT WON’T STING… If you were to police up some noteworthy news tips, send them to us at: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
