Recent Russian Intelligence Operations

[davidbfpo]

I have just merged the 2018 thread on the attempted murder of ex-GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury, England. Posts 51 to here refer to issues linked to this incident.

[davidbfpo]

A startling development this morning when the Dutch military intelligence agency (AVID) held a press conference on the action taken in 2017 to expel four accredited diplomats - who were GRU -whose trade craft to say the least was lacking.

(Added) The AVID briefing slides (x35):https://t.co/UUD5CvmJZn

The US DoJ has followed on with indictments.

There are different, detailed reports in the UK:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45746837 and https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...l-weapons-body

[davidbfpo]

Yes again, the second suspect in the Salisbury poisoning case was a doctor and highly decorated Russian military intelligence officer. Incredible that so much Russian information online can be accessed, this includes via 'The Dark Net'.

Bellingcat:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-a...n-hero-russia/

BBC News:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45801154

A Russian investigative site:https://citeam.org/whats-in-a-number-how-love-for-expensive-cars-and-number-plates-revealed-the-second-skripal-suspects-indentity/

[davidbfpo]

An exploration of Bellingcat in 'The Spectator' alas behind a paywall, which considers the allegations made it is a servant of the UK / US agencies. It ends with this:

The real secret of Bellingcat is that they have stumbled upon a disturbing truth: that it has become impossible to tell analogue lies in a digital world. In an age where almost all personal data is searchable and every event photographed, the most secret information is often hiding in plain sight. All you need to know is where to look for it — even if that means delving into the internet’s darkest corners.

Link:https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/10/...spy-agencies/?

[davidbfpo]

Linked is a lengthy review of two books by Dr. Rob Dover, one of which is Mark Urban's book 'The Skripal Files'; the author is a BBC journalist whose focus is military-strategic. The review starts on pg.4 and onto pg.6 with:

The Skripal Files is the first monograph-length response to the poisonings of Skripal and his daughter in March 2018 and has beaten both other journalists and academics – who might be focusing on peer review journals – into press. It has substance, too. Indeed, the key added value of the book is ten hours of interview evidence that Urban conducted with Skripal in the summer of 2017: this is an entirely novel contribution to our understanding of this man, of the motivations for defection laid bare, and indeed – inadvertently – to our understanding of why the GRU may have taken such strong action against a man who had been convicted and then swapped (which conventionally would mean absolved from any further punishment).

Link and click on the bottom icon:http://www.ccw.ox.ac.uk/blog/2018/11...y-robert-dover

[davidbfpo]

A 'long read' and of interest, even if he defected long ago, in 1978 after eight years in the GRU. The article is sub-titled:

Defections from Moscow’s most powerful spy agency are so rare, there are believed to be just two living examples. One is Sergei Skripal, who almost died this year. The other talks

Link:https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...iktor-suvorov?

[davidbfpo]

From an unknown author via Twitter, who explains his purpose:

And for my purposes, I’m only concerned with the answer to one very specific variation of that question: Who watches the killers (and other members) of the Main [Intelligence] Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU)?In Russia, it turns out it’s a pretty straightforward answer: the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of the Department of Military Counterintelligence (UVKR) of the Counterintelligence Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB).

Link:https://medium.com/@horkos/quis-cust...s-22cbccfc5ac0

[davidbfpo]

A good article on a GRU operation.
Link:https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/06/estonia-russia-deniss-metsavas-spy/592417/?