Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

theins.ru

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 502 posts

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#111

Post by Paradigma11 »

thriftwy wrote: post #27
kvgr wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mean blow up ammunition before invasion? Not enough?

It's one of a stockpiles in a small country (out of many) which doesn't even border Ukraine, and the one who had a lot of economic integration going on with Russia. That also predated the axtual war 10 years. A Russian would say to you that if it's indeed a GRU op, they should do an internal investigation and shoot behind the garden shed the ones who devised / permitted it, after making effort to find out whether the…

These are gifts brought to the Tzar to show that your Siloviki are more worthy of praise and resources than the other Siloviki.

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#112

Post by mmsc »

llmllmllm wrote: post #107
FabHK wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Examples/source? According to this stack overflow question, the US is (fairly) unique in not having immigration exit checks. https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/122289/why-don-t-...

The UK doesn't have exit checks.

Of the ~50 countries I've been to in the past 10 years, The UK is the only one I remember which I did not need to show any ID when leaving. I thought it was strange because this is just one way countries catch overstays.

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#113

Post by ipython »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #9

This is my semi annual plug for all of you to watch the fantastic and somehow forgotten FX network TV show, The Americans, A spy drama set in Washington DC in the 1980s about KGB “illegals” posing as travel agents. It’s way better than any basic cable TV show had any right to be. Plus, all seasons are streaming on Hulu, so you don’t have to worry about whether the story will be completed. https://www.hulu.com/series/…

and if you want to read about the real world Russian illegals that were caught in the US and traded in the 2010 spy swap, read the FBI pages on Operation Ghost Stories: https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/operation-ghost-stories-ins...

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#114

Post by mmsc »

mrighele wrote: post #99
mmsc wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The airline only needs to be physically shown a passport which will get the person into the destination: they don’t record it. So you book with the Czech passport, go through border control with the Czech passport, then show the airline staff the Russian passport.

I may be wrong, but every time you do a check-in you are giving your information and they record it, and you have to show the same document at boarding time. This doesn't mean that it must be the same document that you used to enter or exit the country though, although depending on the destination the airline may require proof that you can enter the destination country, like a visa or a passport, because having a pas…

You would should both to the airline staff. "This is my ID I used, and this is my ID which allows me entry so you(the airline) won't have to bring me all the way back to my arrival point." Airline staff will not record this second form of ID: it's only to show the staff for a moment.

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#115

Post by gotts »

asveikau wrote: post #3

Interesting seeing this website with a .ru domain. Haven't been following them, but seems like they're based in Latvia. I don't think they would live comfortably being physically in Russia, but also seems like the state could seize the domain.

seizing the domain would give them nothing. Insider has a well established brand, they can easily reopen it in any other domain. Also getting some private information during the registration process might be helpful for the state.

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#116

Post by mmsc »

ivan_gammel wrote: post #91
mmsc wrote: post #71

> In both cases, she used sophisticated tradecraft that sought to leave no trace in databases accessible to European authorities. For instance, she booked her trips and bought her plane tickets using her Czech passport, registering only that nationality with the Greek airline. But upon crossing the Russian border, Šapošnikova used her secret Russian passport, thus bypassing the need to obtain a Russian visa issued to…

At least in some countries in Schengen area they check both passports on the outbound travel to Russia, e.g. in Narva, Estonia („You don’t seem to have Russian visa, do you have another passport?“) However, you don’t have to be very smart and sophisticated to simply choose another route and use connection in Istanbul to avoid this check…

> they check both passports on the outbound travel to Russia, e.g. in Narva, Estonia

Who is "they"?

If "they" is the airline, then physically show them the Russian passport: they don't record this information, they only need to see it to confirm that they won't have to fly you back (for free?) to your departing location.

If border control (again: by flying), simply saying "my flight is to the UK" works.

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#117

Post by mmsc »

askonomm wrote: post #109
ivan_gammel wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give an example? Sounds strange to me. Even within Schengen area there can be temporary border checks and you usually need to identify yourself when leaving it.

In-shengen border controls are extremely easy to bypass, and if you travel a lot you know exactly where they are (especially since it is quite rare). Baltic countries have no checks at all at the borders, so you can go Sweden to Finland, Finland to Estonia, Estonia all the way down to Poland without any checks at all, easy. I know there's often a check at the France / Spain border, but I also know they only check bus…

Those in-Schengen checks for buses and so on are largely just "do you have a valid passport?" and I'm not aware of any real checks of visa status, overstay checks, etc.

If you get caught without a passport, you get detained though. If you've forgotten your passport somewhere, someone else can take it to an airport (or a physical border) and the border control at the airport can then confirm your identity.

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#118

Post by zarzavat »

mmsc wrote: post #112
llmllmllm wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK doesn't have exit checks.

Of the ~50 countries I've been to in the past 10 years, The UK is the only one I remember which I did not need to show any ID when leaving. I thought it was strange because this is just one way countries catch overstays.

They get the records from the airlines. They don’t need to pay someone to stamp passports at the border to know who is overstaying.

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#119

Post by eternal_braid »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #9

This is my semi annual plug for all of you to watch the fantastic and somehow forgotten FX network TV show, The Americans, A spy drama set in Washington DC in the 1980s about KGB “illegals” posing as travel agents. It’s way better than any basic cable TV show had any right to be. Plus, all seasons are streaming on Hulu, so you don’t have to worry about whether the story will be completed. https://www.hulu.com/series/…

Another recommendation is "Person of Interest". The series was ahead of its time with the implications of AI on society. It also has spies.

Re: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

#120

Post by DrFalkyn »

Barrin92 wrote: post #103
temporarely wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most realistic Russian sleeper scenario imo was in Slow Horses. Brits don't insult your intelligence too greatly in their spook shows; the American variety always involves some sort of super-human characters. It's good as entertainment, the Americans, but just over the top.

>Brits don't insult your intelligence too greatly in their spook shows; the American variety always involves some sort of super-human characters. This is why I could never get into House of Cards, it's just so over the top compared to something like Borgen which for me to this day is still one of the best political dramas ever made, also sadly went somewhat under the radar especially across the pond.

It wasn't any over the top than the original. It mostly just followed The BBC production almost to the letter, except with US spin.

Until Season 4?. Whenever the re-election campaign started. Joel Kinnaman, while a great actor (loved him in Altered Carbon) was a massive miscast as a plausible candidate for the GOP. Mostly due to youth. And the last season was a Game of Thrones-level utter disaster.

Post reply on HN