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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

#401

Post by netsharc »

tharkun__ wrote: post #333
netsharc wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I know if you're a citizen of a country, you have to use your passport from that country to enter/leave that country, at least it's that way with USA: [1] > U.S. nationals, including U.S. dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States. And the German foreign ministry says it's international practice to do so, but says "should" instead of "must": [2] > Bei Doppelstaatern (Erwac…

Like I said, and this is personal experience: yes Canada needs your Canadian passport on file so they (and thus the airline) will let you board/back in. I have been to several EU countries and none of them cared for the Canadian passport. Tried showing both at the beginning. They don't care. So we only show the EU one now. Also funny: showing "the other passport only" because you don't have a current one. Like try us…

Seems we're mixing up what the airline cares vs what immigration control cares about.

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

#402

Post by benterix »

thriftwy wrote: post #326
dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The downside is that Russia as a state has few friends. Had you decided not to go the imperial route, we could have normal, civilized relations like with the rest of the world. At some point we could even have something like EU-Russia union (why not?) with people traveling, living and working where they choose.

As it is known, Russia has only two friends: its army and its navy. And if you ask me, even the latter is in doubt. Prior to 2014 I don't remember any serious prospects of EU-Russia integration. EU did not even bother to have visa waiver for Russian citizens. Russians also didn't have any special education opportunities coming from EU. Basically Russians could only visit EU on short term visas as tourists to spend th…

> As it is known, Russia has only two friends: its army and its navy.

This sounds a bit sad, doesn't it? Do you really believe it? Because this way of saying is typical of autocrats looking for an external enemy in order to cement their own power.

The reality is that Europe had enough of wars and we made an effort to integrate and collaborate peacefully. It's not always easy but it's working better than ever. And we did collaborate with Russia as much as we could - but there was no political will on the other side to extend it.

Personally I have many Russian friends, they are normal people and want to live happily. There is no reason why one country should invade another because the result is always suffering.

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

#403

Post by bitcharmer »

dboreham wrote: post #32
tharmas wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend "The Octopus Murders" on Netflix. The "spy world" is active in all kinds of activities. Many unsavory. All in the name of "the National Interest". Also the story of Gary Webb is quite interesting too.

Agreed. See also Epstein. Very spook-connected dude.

There's a theory circulating that Epstein's network was essentially CIA's honeypot for wealthy and powerful people. I mean, that would be an insanely high value asset if true. And knowing this organization's track record I would not be surprised if this were true.

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

#404

Post by donavanm »

foobarian wrote: post #138
vlovich123 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keri Russell a lightweight? I’m curious what gave you that impression as I’ve always thought of her as an excellent actress. Probably missing out on The Diplomat too if you like political intrigue at all.

Well on that topic, the French series "The Bureau" [1] was fantastic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bureau_(TV_series)

As another semi-obscure “spy” series check out the british production _The Sandbaggers_. Very lecarre-esque story that reflected the inanity and stakes of the cold war, written by a RN officer.

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

#405

Post by Fnoord »

mayd wrote: post #389
Fnoord wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to discredit South East Asia but Germany is where the Cold War took place. Especially the second part of it. RAF, for example, was pretty much sponsored by East Germany. So many good series made involving the subject though. Both drama and documentary. I mean, you do want drama and not documentary? Cause the story The Americans is inspired by is documented. For drama, check Deutschland '83 and the two successors.…

I do agree that the "Deutschland 83/86/89" TV series was great espionage drama, but I also think your Eurocentric bias is showing. I have often wondered why Asia has been continuously overlooked in the espionage TV drama stakes. Even John LeCarré's "The Honourable Schoolboy" never got adapted to the screen. My conclusion is that it is not due to a lack of good material but due to political and cultural reasons. Weste…

Right now I am watching The Sympathizer, a Vietnamese drama about the Cold War, focussed on the Vietnamese take on the matter. Its on HBO Max. Weekly release so not yet finished. They just added the third episode, and I've almost finished that. Seems very much promising.

South Korea also has a cinema scene. I once saw a Korean horror and it was unlike anything I saw before. Like, really weird. But it had nothing to do with spy drama.

A lot of spy drama or action from the Cold War era is very over the top and/or propagandist/fear mongering. Drama is dramatized, but can easily be regarded as overdramatized, bending the truth too much in the process. At such point, a good documentary on the subject is probably preferred. The faith I have in a country like China or North Korea being authentic on such matters in documentary is near zero, and thus I assume their drama on the matter will equal the low effort American cinema we saw previous century.

That a band like Laibach was allowed to play in North Korea is very much telling to me.

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

#406

Post by withinboredom »

lolinder wrote: post #363
martinky24 wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Spies often work for free Do you have a reputable source for that?

I think the distinction they're drawing is that "spies" are often just people who hand over information to foreign states because that's where their sympathies lie, whereas "agents" are employees of an intelligence agency. That said, I don't think I've actually seen this distinction made before, and I'd love to hear citations for all the assertions that OP so confidently makes.

Yeah, this is more inline of what I meant.

Sources:

- Spy museum: Berlin

- Human Intelligence School for the US Amy (in ~07-08)

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

#407

Post by jojobas »

anovikov wrote: post #400
jojobas wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not much safer now that a bunch of disposable Russians have been exposed. Russian businessmen moved to the EU and the US by the thousand per year. We won't know who of them are "businessmen" and nobody is even pretending to check.

Well it's a lot better than not letting them leave. Staying in and paying taxes there supports Putin; plus if they knew they are stuck in and can't move to the civilised world, they'd have to develop some sense of belonging with Russia. EU is making everything possible to suck out everyone with half the brain from Russia and this is a good thing. A lot of new immigration programs that appear to be specifically tailor…

How about actually vetting them, even if post factum? Bellingcat, The Insider et al uncovered fake identities and actual biographies of agents with a tiny fraction of resources Western security agencies have. It's actually why these agencies get tax money.

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

#408

Post by thriftwy »

whatshisface wrote: post #354
thriftwy wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true, we are more of Russian Empire survivors than heirs. Most of my ancestors are unsurprisingly peasants with serfdom (and then, kolkhoz ) background. Still, if there are any possibilities to "cash out" the paltry benefits of history they went through, Russians will not hesitate to. After all, as you have rightfully noticed, common folk of both Russian and British empires have already paid for it in their sw…

Its a difficult subject, but it would be worth thinking about what happens to "we," when an aristocrat has made use of their serfs and no longer has need of pikemen.

We're not alone in this - globalized world does not need pikemen and I can see folks complaining about it under any home prices piece on HN. And in Russia where people have few illusions about their government.

Russians also been through the 90's where we were told pikemen should cater to the highest bidder. Since the beginning of the hot war, however, the state has suddenly found itself in need of their population which it has disregarded before.

I imagine the same may happen in EU where these underemployed young males are suddenly treated with good wages if they decide to join the armed forces.

On the other hand, fleeing Russian opposition takes pride in reiterating how they are going to sack all of these pikemen the second they are made a puppet government. That's why their influence is basically nonexistent. Navalny was smarter than that, but the team he gathered is just like that.

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

#410

Post by surfingdino »

stoperaticless wrote: post #393
The_Colonel wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But in 2021 there was enough evidence on who did it and what was being planned to take action. Seems like you agree the reason it was not published before 2021 was that there wasn't enough evidence collected yet. Isn't that the most parsimonious explanation? Why do you feel the need to add this superfluous German angle / Russian resources unfounded speculation?

Vanishingly small amount of facts that affect us are proven in court or by scientific experiment. When living on this world, one must do a lot of “speculation”, to derive most probable explanations based on limited information available. I guess one could call it “personal opinion”, “informed opinion”, or even “expert oponion” depending on the context. In this specific case, worth remembering, that speed of investiga…

Austria? How not surprising at all https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria_and_Russian_intelligen...
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