The Americans TV hit portrayed the real-life U.S. counterintelligence operation of 2013 |
As Pearson navigates a dangerous web of
lies and deceit to stop the Invisible Killer before it is too late, readers will
learn the threat that Russian sleeper cells pose to America...in real life.
Russian espionage operations inside the
U.S. have a long and storied history. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Soviet Union
infiltrated the U.S. government with spies such as the infamous Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets.
During the Cold War, the KGB used sleeper cells to spy on the U.S. and its
allies, often embedding agents for years before activating them.
More recently, in 2010, a group of Russian
spies, including sleeper agent Anna Chapman, were arrested by the FBI. The
group operated in the U.S. for four years, posing as ordinary citizens while
working to gather intelligence and build relationships with powerful figures in
American society. Chapman and the other spies were eventually deported back to
Russia in a high-profile prisoner exchange.
I’m sure that U.S. counterintelligence
teams were burning the midnight oil as they uncovered Anna Chapman and began
tracking more and more Russian sleeper agents lurking among us. After all, Anna
Chapman led them to other members of the Russian spy ring who made contact with
various individuals and organizations as well.
One notable contact was an "unidentified
Manhattan-based financier", a person who Anna Chapman met with several
times during her time in the U.S. She attempted to gather information from this
individual, but it is not clear what information she was seeking or what her
ultimate goal was.
Counterintelligence believes the financier was
involved in the hedge fund industry, but it is unclear whether or not the
financier was aware of Chapman's true identity or the fact that she was a
Russian spy. The details of Chapman's interactions with the financier have been
kept under wraps, but this individual was one of several contacts that Chapman
and other members of the Russian spy ring made in their efforts to gather
intelligence and build relationships with influential individuals.
Cynthia Murphy was another member of the
Russian spy ring who made contact with a former high-ranking official in the US
government. She was arrested along with Anna Chapman in 2010. Murphy, whose
real name is Lydia Guryeva, was posing as a stay-at-home mother in suburban New
Jersey at the time of her arrest.
Murphy was directed by her Russian
handlers to establish contact with a former high-ranking official in the US
government, who counterintelligence has not publicly identified. Murphy gathered
information from and maintained a relationship with him for quite some time. Like
the other members of the spy ring, she was eventually deported back to Russia
as part of a prisoner exchange. BTW, the Murphy incident was the reason I wrote
the article “Russian
Spy Sleeper Cells Are Everywhere!” a while back.
We all remember Carter Page, the American
businessman and former foreign policy advisor to the 2016 presidential campaign
of Donald Trump. He has been the subject of controversy due to his contacts
with Russian officials during the campaign and subsequent investigations into
Russian interference in the election. Page denied any wrongdoing and has not
been charged with any crimes related to the investigations.
However, one of the Russian sleeper cell spies
in Anna Chapman’s group was Igor Sporyshev. U.S. counterintelligence revealed
that Sporyshev attempted to recruit Carter Page as a source. He approached Page
at an energy symposium in New York City in 2013 and attempted to establish a relationship
with him.
Over the next two years, Sporyshev and
another member of the spy ring, Victor Podobnyy, made several attempts to
cultivate Page as a source, offering him favors and gifts in exchange for
information about US energy policy and other topics.
This attempt to recruit Page was part of a
broader effort by Russian intelligence to interfere in the 2016 US presidential
election, including the use of hacking and propaganda campaigns to influence
the outcome.
The contacts between the Russian sleeper
cell and members of the Trump campaign were scrutinized by US counterintelligence
and law enforcement. The full extent of the contacts between the Russian spy
ring and individuals associated with the Trump campaign, including Carter Page,
remains unclear. However, this long-term, concerted effort to recruit Page as a
source demonstrates the extent to which the Russian government will go to
create and maintain spy sleeper cells inside America and use them to infiltrate
US political circles.
Another lesser-known incident involved a New
York City real estate developer and Vicky Pelaez, yet another member of Chapman’s
Russian spy ring. Pelaez, whose real name is Mikhaela Kott, posed as a
journalist for a Spanish-language newspaper in New York City. She established a
close relationship with the developer, and her Russian handlers directed her to
use this relationship to gather information about US economic and political
issues. The FBI arrested her in 2013 and deported her back to Russia in the
high-profile prisoner swap.
U.S. counterintelligence placed another
member under intense surveillance: Juan Lazaro. He was directed by his Russian
handlers to seek out contacts at American University in Washington D.C. His
mission was to identify potential recruits and sources of information.
Lazaro and his wife, who were living under
false identities, had enrolled in a graduate program at the university in order
to establish contacts with students and faculty members who might be of interest
to Russian intelligence. However, specific information or intelligence the
couple may have gathered during their time at the university has not been
released by U.S. authorities.
These are just a few examples of the very
real threat posed by Russian sleeper cells operating inside the U.S. In THE SHADOW WAR,
I take readers inside the world of Russian espionage and sleeper cells,
exploring the dangers posed by these highly trained and deeply embedded agents.
But the reality of Russian sleeper cells operating within America is not
confined to the pages of fiction. It is a very real and ongoing threat, one
that demands our attention and our action. The potential damage that these
agents could inflict upon our nation is immense, and we cannot afford to let
our guard down.
Recent incidents of sleeper cells being
uncovered and the historical evidence of Soviet infiltration of the U.S.
government show the extent of the threat. The 2010 case involving Anna Chapman
and her spy ring, including attempts to recruit individuals such as Carter
Page, highlights the lengths to which the Russian government will go to
infiltrate U.S. political circles.
As long as these sleeper cells remain active and undetected, the danger they pose to American national security cannot be underestimated. It is up to U.S. counterintelligence teams to remain vigilant and continue their efforts to identify and neutralize these threats before it is too late.
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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