Studeo
18th August 2010, 17:51
When a ring of Russian spies was discovered in the suburbs of several US cities in May, many commentators were quick to dismiss them as rather hapless.
There was, it seemed, a touch of comic opera about their covert activities, and the other details that emerged of their lives in the US - from the cultivation of hydrangeas, to the alluring pictures posted on Facebook by the most glamorous of the group, Anna Chapman.
But that's not how everyone saw it. Sir Stephen Lander, Director-General of MI5 until 2002, has told a BBC Radio 4 documentary, Why Russia Spies, that the very existence of a ring of Russian "illegals" (spies operating without diplomatic cover) is no laughing matter.
"The fact that they're nondescript or don't look serious is part of the charm of the business," he says.
"That's why the Russians are so successful at some of this stuff.
"They're able to put people in those positions over time to build up their cover to be useful. They are part of a machine... And the machine is a very professional and serious one."....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10986334
There was, it seemed, a touch of comic opera about their covert activities, and the other details that emerged of their lives in the US - from the cultivation of hydrangeas, to the alluring pictures posted on Facebook by the most glamorous of the group, Anna Chapman.
But that's not how everyone saw it. Sir Stephen Lander, Director-General of MI5 until 2002, has told a BBC Radio 4 documentary, Why Russia Spies, that the very existence of a ring of Russian "illegals" (spies operating without diplomatic cover) is no laughing matter.
"The fact that they're nondescript or don't look serious is part of the charm of the business," he says.
"That's why the Russians are so successful at some of this stuff.
"They're able to put people in those positions over time to build up their cover to be useful. They are part of a machine... And the machine is a very professional and serious one."....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10986334