June 28, 2010

Now THAT'S a Reset Button!


"Excuse me, but haven't we met in California last summer?"
"No, I think it was the Hamptons."

Life is always stranger than fiction, or, in this case, it may have been imitating [bad] fiction. Th above was a coded exchange which one Anna Chapman, an alleged Russian sleeper agent ("illegal") was to use to verify the identity of a person to whom she was to give off a fake passport.

Chapman (not her real name, we assume) is one of nearly a dozen Russian sleeper agents rounded up by the FBI today in a multi-state arrest of illegal agents.

The criminal complaints read not so much like a Le Carre spy novel as something Dave Barry might have written. There are meetings in CVS pharmacies and Russian restaurants, malfunctioning private wireless networks, messages encrypted in photographs [aka steganography], invisible writing, brush switches of bags, trips to South America, envelopes of cash hidden at dead drops, and, yes, an apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey. It has to be read to be believed.

Another identity verification with one Mikhail Semenko:

"Could we have met in Beijing in 2004?" 
"Yes, we might have, but I believe it was in Harbin." 

Apparently, these spies were not trained to introduce variety to their spycraft.

Today's arrests are apparently the culmination of a years-long investigation into the SVR's (Russian foreign intelligence) illegals program, which the FBI asserts was set up to train deep cover agents that would blend in in the US, either individiually or as a married couple, have children, buy a house, have cover jobs, etc., all with the express purpose of "becoming sufficiently Americanized" so as to infiltrate, gathering intelligence on and recruiting other agents in policy making bodies. The main NYT article offers some of the more hilarious exchanges between Moscow Center and the agents, the choicest being two agents arguing with Center about who would own a new house they would be purchasing in New Jersey.

Based on the criminal complaints, it is clear that these characters are not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier (someone wrote down a 27-character password for accessing encrypted data on a sheet of paper and left it lying around), and they are going to race to be the first to cut a deal. So I would expect we will soon learn all of the juicy details of this spy ring, perhaps soon to be known as The Gang Which Couldn't Spy Straight.

I am guessing some people on Lubyanka Square are not going to get a lot of sleep the next few days.

p.s. Meanwhile, in a curious twist of fate, our current issue of Russian Life, which mailed last Friday, has a long story on the little-known private life and history of Russia's most famous illegal in the U.S., William Fisher, aka Rudolph Abel.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955