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

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

#22

Interesting story; but as with all matters of this kind it is hard to know what is fact, what is fiction, what is disinformation/misinformation and what is propaganda. Folks interested in spy-craft would love the classic Deception : The Invisible War Between the KGB and the CIA by Edward Jay Epstein. This book provides insight into how deception is at the root of all disinformation/misinformation/propaganda/etc. whic…

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

#24

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/…

I'd recommend Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy instead.

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

#25

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/…

The Americans is pretty banal and follows the basic script you would expect. It's good background noise if you want 80s nostalgia though.

I'm with you. I don't really agree with all the praise it gets. I liked it at first but it really seemed to run into the "manufactured drama" trap that a lot of TV shows run into when they try and keep it going. It really ruined my suspense of disbelief.

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

#26

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/…

I want to give some advice: Don't judge it by its first few episodes. When I first checked it out, the basic setup seemed rather inane and I stopped watching.

Then, a couple years later, I needed something to watch during long exercise sessions and I checked it out again. It was getting much more interesting by the end of the first season.

And every season got better and richer. By the very end, I experienced it as actually deep, especially in the way the Keri Russell character unexpectedly evolves. It was a real pleasure and I'm very glad I had the chance to enjoy it. Recommended!

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

#27
post #23

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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 they were working for the other side, or just dumb on their own.

Or perhaps the whole GRU is defunct. Many Russians would not reject this idea outright.

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

#28

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I assume you are commenting in good faith. So, regarding "cui prodest", who would benefit from blowing up a munitions factory in the Czech republic where munitions were stored that were supposed to be transported to Ukraine later so that Ukrainians could protect themselves against the Russian invasion?

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

#29

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How is the motive "not there"?

Skripal was seen as a traitor, having acted as a double-agent for British Intelligence. There's a clear pattern of Putin going after "traitors" - Alexander Litvinenko had publicly accused Putin of conducting assassinations and organizing false terrorist attacks before fleeing to the UK and famously being assassinated with Polonium there. Maksim Kuzminov was just assassinated in Spain a few months ago for having defected to Ukraine with a helicopter.

As the article states the arms which were destroyed were likely to end up being received by the Free Syrian Army, in opposition to the Assad regime supported by Putin - or alternatively, to Ukraine, against which Russia had just started a conflict.

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

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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I think you missed their point, which was that misinformation isn't about getting you to believe wrong things, but about getting you to believe nothing at all.
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