Scandals and failures of Russian and American intelligence in the days of the "new cold war"

After the collapse of the USSR, Western intelligence officers breathed more freely, but not for long. Russia quickly returned to the arena of spy games. In addition, China began to gain strength and a new enemy appeared - Islamic fundamentalists. BBC Russian Service recalls the scandalous stories that characterize the new way of life in the world of intelligence, which some experts call the Second Cold War.

Фото: Depositphotos

The leadership of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States cautiously perceived the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. This news did not bode well for the Americans, who had recently lost Iran as a result of the Islamic revolution.

Nevertheless, the war in Afghanistan became one of the reasons for the collapse of the USSR, the main geopolitical enemy of the United States in the 20th century. The defeat of the Soviet Union was actively facilitated by the CIA, as well as the intelligence services of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

After the collapse of the USSR, American and British intelligence officers lost an existential enemy. It took Western intelligence services several years to realize that a new threat had materialized in the east—Islamic fundamentalism.

Over time, it became clear that the ideological struggle with Russia, the successor to the Soviet Union, was also far from over.

Some experts call the world order that emerged in the 2000s a second—or new—Cold War. One of the first to use this term was British journalist Edward Lucas in his book “The New Cold War: How the Kremlin Threatens Russia and the West.”

“After the invasion of Georgia, the invasion of Ukraine, the intervention in Syria, the election interference, the attack by Russian mercenaries on the US military in Syria, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that we are back in the Cold War,” former Deputy Director of the CIA Michael Morell.

Some experts consider the term “New Cold War” to be incorrect. There is no new war, this is just another round of the old confrontation, says Joseph Linder, author of books on the history of the intelligence services. He believes it will continue due to ideological differences.

“The Soviet Union could afford what other countries could not afford. But that’s why he was feared and respected at the same time,” says Linder. — Russia’s new position in the international arena causes fear, because [the West] needed the position of Russia, which was on its knees in the ever-memorable 90s, which was divided and waited for it to collapse. But she didn’t collapse. Moreover, he allows himself to conduct an independent international policy, and we have lost the habit of this in 20 years.”

At the same time, experts on both sides agree that Russia's behavior on the world stage has changed. The Russian BBC service recalls the most scandalous and disastrous stories from the world of 2000's special services.

Deal with polonium

In November 2006, a former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London. He felt bad after meeting with ex-KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi and businessman Dmitry Kovtun. Litvinenko died a few weeks later.

Following the investigation, Scotland Yard reported that Litvinenko was poisoned by the radioactive substance polonium-210, which was mixed into tea at his meeting with Lugovoi and Kovtun.

In January 2016, the results of a public inquiry into the Litvinenko case were announced in London. Coroner Sir Robert Owen, who headed the inquest, said that the perpetrators probably acted “under the direction of the FSB and with the approval of the head of this organization, Nikolai Patrushev, and Russian President Putin.” Britain demanded the extradition of Kovtun and Lugovoy, but Russia refused, noting that the constitution expressly prohibits it from extraditing its citizens.

Possible motives for the murder of Litvinenko, as Owen said, could be his work on British intelligence, criticism of the Russian special services and Vladimir Putin personally, as well as proximity to other Kremlin critics, including businessman Boris Berezovsky.

Kovtun and Lugovoy denied any involvement in the poisoning. Lugovoy in the 2011 year became a State Duma deputy and was re-elected in the 2016 year. Included in the State Duma Security Committee.

Ten to exit

In June, 2010, the US authorities detained people on the American territory of 10 and accused them of transmitting information to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).

Another person was detained in Cyprus, released on bail and disappeared (he is still wanted). Also included in this case is an alleged SVR employee who worked in Spain. It was reported that he managed to escape a day after the arrest of the American “ten”.

The most famous of the group was Anna Chapman. Western tabloids constantly drew attention to her striking appearance. For example, the New York Post called her a “spy ring femme fatale.”

According to the FBI, which is engaged in counterintelligence in the United States, Russian intelligence officers settled in American suburbs in the early 2000's, and they had serious intentions and serious funding from the SVR. Illegals were ready to go to the goal for decades, but failed, noted the American authorities.

In July, 2010, the year of ten, were exchanged for four people arrested in Russia:

• ex-colonel GRU Sergey Skrypalaconvicted of spying for Britain;
• a former employee of the SVR, Alexander Zaporozhsky, convicted for treason;
• scientist Igor Sutyagin, convicted of transferring information about Russian weapons to a British company; claims that he was not an agent;
• ex-officer of the KGB counterintelligence service and former deputy head of the NTV Plus security service Gennady Vasilenko, convicted of illegal possession of weapons and attempted bribery of the colony leadership.

In late July, Vladimir Putin met with the alleged intelligence officers who had returned to Russia to 10.

“There is nothing special to comment here. I have already said that this is the result of betrayal, and traitors always end badly,” the president said after this meeting.

It is believed that the group detained in the USA was revealed by the former SVR Colonel Alexander Poteev, who fled abroad shortly before the arrest of the scouts. In 2016, Russian agencies reported on Poteev’s death. As a result of an investigation by the BBC and Buzzfeed in October 2018, it became known that Poteev is alive.

The United States believes that reports of the defector’s death were an attempt by Russian intelligence services to find out his place of residence, writes BBC journalist Mark Urban in his book “The Skripal Files.”

Snowden Identification

One of the biggest failures of the US intelligence community has become the story of a special agent of the CIA and the NSA. Edward Snowdenunfolding in 2013 year. At first, he revealed to journalists data about the secret PRISM project, in which US intelligence agencies collect information about Internet users with the help of IT giants collaborating with intelligence.

Snowden anonymously told The Guardian and the Washington Post about the mass surveillance of the National Security Agency about the negotiations of both Americans and foreigners via the Internet. It turned out that PRISM allows the NSA to view emails, photos, videos and other files sent from social networks, listen to voice and video chats. According to Snowden, among others, Google, Yahoo !, Apple and Facebook are participating in PRISM.

The most interesting thing is that such an Internet surveillance system turned out to be imperfect. Snowden managed to share secret files with journalists using email - he transmitted the data in encrypted form. In May 2013, under the pretext of treating epilepsy, he took a leave of absence from the NSA and flew to Hong Kong. There he continued to hand over secret information to journalists.

It turned out that there is a regulation according to which one of the largest American cellular operators Verizon transfers to the NSA metadata about all calls made in the United States or between the United States and other countries. Moreover, Snowden said that British intelligence services even intercepted telephone calls of foreign politicians and officials who participated in the G2009 summit in London in XNUMX.

In total, as follows from the Pentagon report, the defector stole 1,7 million secret files. Most of the documents, as noted in the American military department, concerned “vital operations of the American army, navy, marines and air force.”

Snowden revealed his identity on June 6, 2013, in a video interview with the Guardian. In it, he said that he was not going to hide who he was because he “knows that he did nothing wrong.” On June 21, he was charged in the United States with theft of state property and disclosure of state secrets. On June 23, Snowden flew from Hong Kong to Moscow, from where he planned to move to Latin America or Iceland. The US revoked his passport. President Vladimir Putin later explained that the American side did this to block Snowden's further flight.

According to official information, Snowden lived for more than a month in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo Airport, since he did not have a Russian visa. The Russian authorities claimed that he did not violate Russian laws, that the special services did not communicate with him and that there were no grounds for his arrest and extradition of the United States. Nevertheless, the media wrote that Snowden, as soon as his plane landed at Sheremetyevo, was met by a car with diplomatic numbers, which took him away from the airport. The press also noted that the hotel, located in the transit zone of the airport, was not seen.

On July 31, Snowden asked for temporary asylum in Russia - and on August 1, he received it. After that, he was taken away from Sheremetyevo in an unknown direction. Putin put forward the condition for granting asylum to the American. “He must stop his work aimed at harming our American partners, as strange as it may sound from my lips,” the president said. However, revelations based on the documents handed over to them continued to be published in the media over the next few years.

The US authorities claimed that Snowden technically could not independently open and steal hundreds of thousands of secret documents. The American side assumed that the Russian intelligence service helped carry out the leak. However, the FBI investigation did not confirm this.

Snowden remains in Russia until now, his residence permit has been extended to 2020. Numerous requirements of the American side to issue it to the United States Russia did not comply. The defector’s residence is kept secret, he did not give a single interview to the Russian media and rarely speaks publicly.

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