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Russians Among Us

Page 43

by Gordon Corera

Buryakov and, 330, 331

  Chapman and, 206, 256–57

  (Hillary) Clinton and, 220

  crisis caused by capture of illegals, 306, 308, 323

  cyber attacks by, 348, 350, 365

  debriefing of illegals by, 302–3

  demoralization in, 76

  FBI unit for tracking, 93–94

  FBI wiring of rezidentura, 332

  Hanssen and, 78

  moles of (see moles)

  Murphys and, 214, 216, 218–20

  New York offices, 73

  Obama and, 216, 217

  Poteyev and, 205, 247, 257, 317, 322

  St. Petersburg University and, 328

  task of, 22

  traumatic shift in, 45

  in UK, 141

  Vienna spy swap and, 275–80, 286

  Sword and Shield (television program), 303

  Syria, 344, 350

  talent spotting. See spotting

  targeting packages, 123

  TDY travelers, 391

  Tenet, George, 115, 135, 411n

  Tennessee GOP (Twitter account), 359

  Terminator, The (film), 246

  terrorism, 135–36, 162. See also counterterrorism; 9/11

  thin cover, 137

  Third Man, The (Greene), 294

  Tinker Tailor novels (le Carré), 54, 56

  tombstoning, 25, 322

  Tomsk State University, 27

  Tonight Show, The (television program), 3

  Torshin, Alexander, 371–72, 373, 374

  tradecraft, 11, 32, 100, 103, 194, 209, 229, 361, 376, 379, 391, 394

  translator project, 355

  Trash Cover, 97

  Traveling Illegals, 182, 189, 418n

  Tretyakov, Sergei, 74, 304–6

  Trotsky, Leon, 110, 318

  Trubnikov, Vyacheslav, 49–50

  True Name Illegals, 134, 138, 211, 330, 418n

  Trump, Donald, 363, 367, 368, 369–70, 371

  truth drugs, 37

  Tunisia, 341

  Tupac Amaru, 85

  Turkmenistan, 338

  Turla (code name), 347

  TV5Monde, 348–50

  Twitter, 245, 349, 355, 358, 359, 361, 364, 371

  “Twitter and Facebook Revolutions,” 341

  Ukraine, 178, 179, 304, 340, 344, 347, 350, 355, 360

  United Kingdom, 73, 323. See also MI5; MI6

  response to Litvinenko’s murder, 162–65

  RT in, 344

  Russian money in, 139–41, 164–67

  United Muslims of America (Facebook page), 359

  United Nations (UN), 28, 69, 71–72, 73, 74, 184, 304, 390

  United Nations Security Council, 239, 338

  United Rusia (One Russia), 316, 372

  universities, spotting and recruitment at, 218

  University of Washington, 186

  US-Canada Institute, 112

  Valdai Group, 337–38

  Vasenkov, Mikhail A. “Juan Lazaro,” 85–90, 100, 130–31, 282–83, 309

  arrest of, 270

  communication techniques of, 88–90

  employment of, 87–88

  move to Peru, 315

  Peruvian citizenship of, 86

  political views of, 88

  retirement of, 130

  source of false identity, 86

  statement to FBI, 281

  surveillance of, 88

  as a US legal resident, 87

  Vienna spy swap and, 284, 285, 289, 290

  Vasilenko, Gennady, 116, 117, 279, 286–87, 288, 293–94, 297, 299–300

  Vavilov, Alexander (new name of Alex Foley), 313

  Vavilov, Timofey (new name of Timothy Foley), 313

  Vavilova, Elena “Ann Foley,” 23–24, 29–32, 33, 35–39, 41–44, 47, 61–68, 71, 92, 96, 104, 188, 223–28, 288

  adjusting to return to Russia, 308–9

  arrest of, 263–65

  arrival in America, 66

  arrival in Canada, 41–42

  background of, 29

  building of cover, 42–43

  Catholic church joined by, 61–62

  contacts with family, 62–63

  division of labor with husband, 125–26

  employment of (Russia), 310

  employment of (US), 43, 125

  hearing and detainment of, 283–84

  info tasks and, 127

  on life as an illegal, 311–12, 396, 398

  on meeting with Putin, 303

  mission of, 66

  motives for becoming a spy, 30–31

  in Paris, 64

  photos retained by, 38, 84

  Poteyev and, 175, 317

  recruitment of, 30

  Russian never spoken by, 64

  in solitary confinement, 282

  source of false identity, 25

  surveillance of, 67–68, 104

  training of, 32, 209

  trip to Moscow planned, 223

  Vienna spy swap and, 294, 296, 297

  weddings of, 31–32

  Vienna spy swap, 1–3, 5–6, 20, 56, 116, 304, 385–86, 390

  American illegals informed of, 282–84

  arrangements and negotiations for, 275–91

  implementation of, 293–300

  proposed, 244

  Russia-based spies informed of, 286–88

  Virtual Private Networks, 359

  Vnesheconombank (VEB), 330

  Vympel, 71

  walk-ins, 78

  Wall Street Journal, 300

  Washington Post, 113

  Washington State, 186

  “Where Does the Motherland Come From” (song), 303

  WikiLeaks, 365, 377

  William, Prince, 142

  Woods, the. See Moscow Center

  Woolcocks, Patrick, 181–82

  World Affairs Council, 211

  World War II, 30–31, 33–34, 70, 175

  Wynne, Greville, 279

  Yakovlev, Sergei “Antonio de Jesus Amurett Graf,” 234

  Yasenevo, 107

  Yeltsin, Boris, 13, 17, 65, 109–10

  Younger, Alex, 385

  Young Guard of United Russia, 316, 372

  YouTube, 326, 355, 358

  Zaporozhsky, Alexander, 114–16, 118

  arrest and sentence of, 115–16

  background of, 56–57

  code name (Max), 57, 405n

  moves to America, 114

  Vienna spy swap and, 279, 285, 287, 288, 293–94, 297–98, 299–300

  Zatuliveter, Ekaterina, 327–29

  Zenit teams, 70–71

  Zhenya. See Buryakov, Evgeny

  Zhomov, Alexander “Sasha” (PROLOGUE), 51–55, 58–59, 114, 118, 171, 179, 233, 279

  mythic status of, 54

  reaction to arrest of illegals, 285–86

  Vienna spy swap and, 53, 287, 293, 297–98

  Zaporozhsky takedown and, 115

  Zottoli, Michael, 186. See also Kutsik, Mikhail

  Photo Section

  A rare photograph of Alexander Poteyev, one of the most important spies of the modern era, seen here as part of a special forces team in Afghanistan in the early 1980s (standing, third from the left). He was the key source on Operation Ghost Stories. Origin unknown

  Potoyev worked for the KGB and then its successor, the SVR, and was later recruited by US intelligence. Origin unknown

  The spy swap at the Vienna airport on July 9, 2010, with the Russian plane in the foreground and the American plane in the background. Matthias Schrader/​AP/​Shutterstock

  The statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky being toppled outside KGB headquarters during the August 1991 coup in Moscow. Roberto Koch/Contrasto Image Eyevine

  Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who spied for Soviet and then Russian intelligence services. FBI

  Aldrich Ames, the CIA officer who betrayed vital secrets from the agency’s “Russia House” to his new friends in Moscow. FBI

  President Obama convenes a meeting of senior national security staff in the White House
Situation Room in October 2009. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

  Leon Panetta at CIA headquarters soon after becoming director in 2009. CIA

  Presidents Obama and Medvedev enjoy a burger in Arlington, Virginia, on June 24, 2010, at the height of the “Russian reset.” Three days later, the Russian illegals were arrested. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

  Milt Bearden, who ran the CIA’s Soviet and Eastern Europe division at the end of the Cold War, pictured outside the Lubyanka KGB headquarters. Courtesy Milt Bearden

  Alexander Zaporozhsky, the former KGB and SVR officer who provided vital information to the CIA, pictured here at his trial in Russia, 2004. He would be swapped in 2010 and travel back to the West. ITAR-TASS News Agency/Alamy Stock Photo

  Michael Sulick, a Russia specialist who rose to become head of the CIA’s clandestine service at the time of the 2010 swap. CIA

  A playful picture of Alexander “Sasha” Zhomov, the legendary KGB and FSB officer who led operations against the United States for decades. Courtesy Milt Bearden

  Yasenevo, headquarters of the KGB’s First Chief Directorate and later the SVR, and home to Directorate S, which ran the “deep-cover illegals.” SVR

  Yuri Drozdov, the former illegal who ran Directorate S in the closing decade of the Cold War. Zuma/Eyevine

  Vladimir Putin’s employment ID while he was working with East Germany’s Stasi spy service, dating from the late 1980s, when he was a young KGB officer. BStU

  The illegal Donald Heathfield, aka Andrey Bezrukov, after his arrest in June 2010. US Marshals Service

  An FBI surveillance picture of Ann Foley—real name Elena Vavilova—at her husband Donald Heathfield’s graduation from Harvard in 2000. FBI

  Donald Heathfield with his two sons, Timothy and Alex, in 1999. Courtesy Alex Foley

  Ann Foley with her son Timothy at the Toronto Zoo. Courtesy Alex Foley

  Brothers Alex and Timothy Foley in Bangkok in 2011, after their parents were revealed as Russian spies. Courtesy Alex Foley

  The illegals Richard and Cynthia Murphy at home with their daughters. Origin unknown

  Cynthia Murphy’s passport. FBI

  Cynthia Murphy after her arrest in 2010. US Marshals Service

  Cynthia Murphy’s Columbia University identity card. One of her tasks was spotting students who might later join the US intelligence community and become Russian targets. FBI

  Richard Murphy (left) and Mikhail Semenko (right) after their arrests in June 2010. US Marshals Service

  Richard Murphy’s notebook with the code to activate the secret steganography system used to communicate with Moscow Center. FBI

  The checkerboard code Juan Lazaro used to send messages to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. FBI

  Christopher Metsos, the Russian spy who looked after the American-based illegals, seen here in July 2010 at the time of his arrest in Cyprus. Unfortunately, he would soon escape. FBI

  Metsos used multiple identities during his time as a Special Reserve Officer of Directorate S. The date and locale of this photograph are not known. FBI

  Another image of Metsos, this time in America, taken by FBI undercover surveillance in Brooklyn, New York. FBI

  Christopher Metsos is caught by a covert camera in 2004 carrying out a brush pass, picking up money from a Russian official in a New York subway station. He would then give it to illegals working in the US. FBI

  The marker left as a signal by Metsos in Wurtsboro, New York, where he buried money for the illegals. FBI

  An FBI surveillance photograph of Richard Murphy meeting with Christopher Metsos in Queens, New York. FBI

  The two illegals Michael Zottoli (left) and Richard Murphy (right) caught by FBI surveillance video, meeting on a Brooklyn, New York, street. FBI

  Zottoli and Murphy talk in a café, not aware that FBI agent Maria Ricci is seated next to them. FBI

  FBI surveillance video image of Murphy (left) and Zottoli (right) meeting June 20, 2004. FBI

  Zottoli after his arrest in 2010. He and his wife had been based on the West Coast but later moved east. US Marshals Service

  A college identity card belonging to the veteran illegal Juan Lazaro. He was retired when he was arrested. FBI

  Anna Chapman back in Russia after the 2010 swap. WENN Rights Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

  Anna Chapman in Manhattan before her arrest. Polaris/Eyevine

  An FBI surveillance image of Anna Chapman on the street in New York. FBI

  Former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko and his wife, Marina. Courtesy Marina Litvinenko

  Litvinenko in the hospital after he had been poisoned with radioactive polonium in a teapot in London. Natasja Weitsz/Getty Images

  Vicky Pelaez after her 2010 arrest. She maintained she had not known that her husband, Juan Lazaro, was a Russian illegal. US Marshals Service

  An image of Sergei Skripal as a young officer. After joining the Soviet military intelligence service, the GRU, he was recruited as an agent for Britain’s MI6. Courtesy friends of Skripal

  Skripal with his family in the mid-1980s. He is holding his daughter, Yulia, who would be poisoned along with him in Salisbury in the UK. Courtesy friends of Skripal

  Maria Butina, a Russian alleged to have run back-channel communications to American political figures for Moscow. She has denied being a spy. Polaris/Eyevine

  About the Author

  GORDON CORERA has been the BBC’s security correspondent since 2004. He has reported from London, Moscow, and Washington, and is the only journalist to have interviewed serving heads of both the CIA and MI6. He has covered firsthand many of the central episodes in the spy wars between the three countries and has unparalleled insight into the workings of all sides. He is the author of several books including The Art of Betrayal: The Secret History of MI6 and has contributed to a number of important BBC documentary series about MI6, the CIA, and Russia.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  Also by Gordon Corera

  Operation Columba

  Cyberspies

  The Art of Betrayal

  Shopping for Bombs

  Copyright

  RUSSIANS AMONG US. Copyright © 2020 by Gordon Corera. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Cover design by Ploy Siripant

  Cover photograph © Paul Gooney/Arcangel

  FIRST EDITION

  Digital Edition FEBRUARY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-288943-0

  Version 01072020

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-288941-6

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