Suitcase nuke |
Russian sleeper
cells, or deep cover agents, are like spies in a James Bond movie. They're
secret operatives sent by the Russian government to sneak into American society
and gather information or carry out covert activities. They might have been
living in the US for years, often under fake identities, and might have even
blended in as normal citizens while they wait for their mission to begin.
It's no secret that the US intelligence agencies
have been worried about Russian sleeper cells for a long time. We all remember
the chilling TV series “The Americans”. It was based on a true story where, just
in 2010, the FBI arrested 10 Russian spies who had been living in the US for
over a decade, pretending to be American citizens. They were part of what was
known as the "Illegals Program" and their goal was to infiltrate
American society and gather information on US policy and politics.
In recent years, the threat of Russian
sleeper cells has become more real. In 2018, a Russian national was charged by
the US government for acting as an agent of the Russian government and trying
to infiltrate American political organizations. Another example of a Russian
sleeper cell was in 2019, when the FBI arrested a Russian national, Maria
Butina, who was charged with acting as an agent of a foreign government without
prior notification to the attorney general. She was accused of infiltrating the
National Rifle Association (NRA) and other organizations to gather intelligence
and influence U.S. policy.
Another example was in 2020, when a
Russian national, Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, was indicted by the US
government for his role in a cybercrime ring that conducted a massive computer
fraud scheme and caused over $100 million in losses. He was also charged with
money laundering, identity theft, and bank fraud and known as one of the most
wanted cybercriminals in the world.
In 2021, the US Justice department announced the charges of several Russian intelligence officers for their role in hacking the 2016 US presidential campaign, revealing a large-scale effort to interfere in the US democratic process.
In THE SHADOW WAR
spy thriller, a vast network of Russian sleeper cells set up over the years
inside the U.S. by a former KGB agent plans a major bioweapons attack in
America’s heartland. Here’s a Snippet:
The captured Russian soldier replied, “Because
Putin was planning to blow a suitcase nuclear bomb off inside Ukraine, but he
chickened out. He will not use suitcase nukes to restore the original Soviet
bloc.
CIA spymaster Corey Pearson asked, “What
did he fear?”
“Zakharov sends us monthly printouts,
hand-delivered by his secret couriers. Nothing is ever sent online. The last
one said that your President Biden threatened Putin on the U.S./Russia ‘red
phone’ hotline, warning Putin that if he used nukes in Ukraine, the U.S. and
NATO would immediately attack Russian troops inside Ukraine and sink every
Russian warship in the Black Sea.”
Corey Pearson shook his head in disbelief.
“Then why wouldn’t Putin fear detonating a nuclear suitcase bomb inside the
U.S., a nuclear superpower?”
“Because Vavilova, Zakharov, and Smirnov
convinced him to do so long ago, even before the Ukraine invasion. Putin plans
to use Vavilova’s extensive sleeper cell network in the U.S. to oversee the
details. It will explode outside and away from major population areas and Putin
will declare plausible deniability.”
End of Snippet
To combat the threat of Russian sleeper
cells, U.S. intelligence agencies have increased their efforts to identify and
track individuals who may be working as covert operatives. This includes
monitoring individuals who have ties to the Russian government, as well as
conducting background checks on individuals who are seeking to immigrate to the
United States from Russia.
It's important to remember that most Russian immigrants and expats living in the US are normal, law-abiding citizens and are not a threat to national security. The concern is only about the small group of individuals who might be working as covert operatives for the Russian government.
Robert Morton
is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and
enjoys writing about the U.S. Intelligence Community. He authors the Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster
series. Check out his latest spy thrillers: MISSION
OF VENGEANCE.
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