This Was How A Soviet Helicopter Was Stolen

FoxTrotAlpha: How To Steal A Soviet Helicopter

Deep in the Sahel, as Muammar Qaddafi’s Libya exploited instability in Chad to expand its territory, a daring operation took place to obtain one of the Soviet Union’s most advanced attack helicopters. It was a complex plan involving Chadian rebel groups as well as French and American soldiers and spies, but it worked.

A Libyan Mi-24 Hind had been abandoned in a forward base not far from the frontier between Libya and Chad that had now been secured by Western-backed Chadian rebels. Though the helicopter was now in friendly hands, it was going to be a challenge to remove it from dangerous territory so close to the threat of Libyan fighter jets.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: These spy/heist stories never get old.

Former CIA Agent Jailed For 19 Years For Spying For China

NBC: Former CIA officer sentenced to 19 years for conspiring with Chinese spies

Jerry Chun Shing Lee is the third former U.S. intelligence officer to be convicted in less than a year of conspiring with the Chinese to give them national defense information.

A former CIA case officer was sentenced Friday to 19 years in prison for conspiring to provide American intelligence secrets to the Chinese government, in an espionage case that some current and former officials say dealt a devastating blow to U.S. intelligence operations.

Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 55, served 13 years as a Central Intelligence Agency case officer in several locations overseas, including China, where prosecutors said he had firsthand knowledge of some of the agency's most sensitive secrets, including the names of covert CIA officers and clandestine human sources in China.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: He is the third Chinese spy convicted this year in the U.S..

More News On A Former CIA Agent Jailed For 19 Years For Spying For China

Former CIA agent sentenced to 19 years for conspiracy with China -- The Guardian/AP
Former CIA officer gets 19 years in prison for selling secrets to China -- CNN
Ex-CIA agent jailed for 19 years for spying for China -- AFP
Ex-CIA officer sentenced to 19 years for China conspiracy -- The Hill
Ex-CIA Officer Sentenced To 19 Years For Conspiracy To Spy For China -- NPR

Russia And Lithuania Exchange Spies At The Kaliningrad Border

Norwegian national Frode Berg was sentenced to 14 years in Russian prison for espionage. Pavel Golovkin / AP / TASS

DW: Russia and Lithuania swap spies at Kaliningrad border

Lithuania has handed over two convicted Russian spies to Moscow, with three spies headed in the opposite direction. Two Lithuanians were freed, along with a Norwegian border guard, as part of the Cold War-style swap.

Russia and Lithuania conducted a spy swap at a border checkpoint between the Baltic state and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on Friday.

The exchange involved two Russians convicted of espionage — Nikolai Filipchenko and Sergei Moiseyenko — and two Lithuanians found guilty of spying — Yevgeny Mataitis and Aristidas Tamosaitis.

It also included the Norwegian national Frode Berg, a retired border inspector who was arrested in December 2017.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg hailed the release of Berg, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison in April for collecting information about Russian nuclear submarines.

Read more ....

More News On Russia And Lithuania Exchanging Spies At The Kaliningrad Border

Spy swap: Five freed in Russia-Lithuania-Norway exchange -- BBC
Russia exchanges spies with Lithuania, Norway in Cold War-style swap -- Reuters
Lithuania, Russia, Norway Carry Out Three-Way Spy Swap -- RFE
Lithuania, Norway and Russia in border spy exchange -- The National

Who Is The Russian Spy That The CIA Extradited?

Russian media have identified the alleged CIA spy in the Kremlin as Oleg Smolenkov, an aide to former ambassador to the U.S. Yury Ushakov (pictured in April this year)

Moscow Times: U.S. Spy Evacuated From Russia Was Possibly a Senior Kremlin Official’s Aide – Kommersant

A top U.S. spy who was reportedly evacuated from Russia could have been a senior Kremlin official’s aide who now lives in the Washington, D.C., area, the Kommersant business daily has reported.

The United States had allegedly extracted one of its highest-level moles in the Russian government in 2017 over fears he could be caught, CNN reported Monday, citing multiple Trump administration officials. The New York Times later reported that the alleged CIA informant had been spirited away after helping the U.S. intelligence community’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Russian media is saying that the "spy" is Oleg Smolenkov, an adviser to Putin's foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov. If this report is true, I would be surprised if he had access to the Kremlin let alone Russian President Putin's office. Foreign policy officials work at the Foreign Ministry, not in the Kremlin. And aides to an aide will certainly not have that type of access.

More News On Who Is The Russian Spy That The CIA Extradited

Russia-US espionage: Details emerge of 'extracted spy' -- BBC
Russian Media Name Alleged U.S. Spy Who Could See Papers On Putin's Desk And Was Evacuated From Russia -- Newsweek
Russian media claim CIA spy in the Kremlin is aide to ex-ambassador as embarrassed Moscow insists the mole did NOT have access to Vladimir Putin -- Daily Mail
Kremlin says reported U.S. spy in Russian president's office was fired years ago -- Reuters
US extracted spy from Putin's Kremlin: reports -- AFP
Reports: CIA Informant Who Provided Intel On Putin, Kremlin Was Extracted From Russia In 2017 -- RFE

Best Analysis (So Far) On CNN Falsely Claiming That The CIA Extradited A Russian Spy Because They Did Not Trust President Trump

Zero Hedge/The Automatic Earth blog: CIA Crushes CNN's Latest Trump-Russia Conspiracy Theory

It’s undoubtedly better to leave some stories alone, and this may be one of them. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov perhaps put it best when he called it “pulp fiction” (and what’s more American than that?). But this one is so exemplary of how the news is cooked up for you these days, let’s have a go anyway.

What makes this story so ideal for its purpose is that it involves intelligence and state secrets, so the news outlet that runs it doesn’t have to prove a thing; it can simply say it’s not authorized to divulge what it doesn’t write, while hinting it does know. Plus, it can use any number of covert sources.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: How the media has been covering this story has truly been an eye-opener. CNN ran with a story quoting one source who stated that the reason why this Russian spy was extradited to the U.S. was because the intelligence community did not trust President Trump. This story was then picked-up by virtually every news network in the world. What we have learned since yesterday is that this claim is bogus. The planning for the extradition of this spy was happening before Donald Trump was even President. But even now (I am watching CTV News in Canada), there is a panel discussing this story and the reasons why the intel community does not trust President Trump. Can anyone say Fake News. The above Zero Hedge post is the best summary that I have read so far on this story.

Contrary to Media Reports, A Russian CIA Spy Was Not Extradited Because The Intelligence Community Did Not Trust President Trump

Daily Mail: Trump did NOT blow the cover of CIA’s top Russian spy who was compromised before the President took office

* The top Russian spy was pulled out and brought to America by the CIA in 2017
* Plans to retrieve them were underway before Donald Trump had taken office
* Their initial reluctance to move sparked concerns they could be a double agent

A spy at the heart of the Kremlin was pulled out of Russia because of CIA leaks and not because President Donald Trump had compromised them, officials have said.

Despite providing vital intelligence from Vladimir Putin's inner circle, the spy was pulled out of Moscow in 2017 amid fears for their safety.

Plans to extract the source were underway well before Trump sparked alarm over his use of intelligence during an Oval Office meeting with Russian officials in 2017, it has now emerged.

In fact, the spy's initial refusal to move to America had sparked concern that they might be a double agent.

Read more ....

Update: CIA slams CNN's 'misguided' and 'simply false' reporting on alleged CIA spy's extraction from Kremlin -- FOX News

WNU Editor: Many outlets are still running with the story that this American spy was taken out of Russia because the intel community did not trust President Trump. But even the New York Times is now acknowledging that the decision to extradite this spy was done before Donald Trump took the office .... C.I.A. Informant Extracted From Russia Had Sent Secrets to U.S. for Decades (The New York Times). As this blogger pointed it out yesterday. There were just too many inconsistencies in the CNN report.

CNN: CIA Extracted Its Top Russian Spy In 2017

From left, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US President Donald Trump, and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak talk during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Photo: TNS

CNN: Exclusive: US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017

Washington (CNN)In a previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government, multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge told CNN.

A person directly involved in the discussions said that the removal of the Russian was driven, in part, by concerns that President Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy.

The decision to carry out the extraction occurred soon after a May 2017 meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump discussed highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The intelligence, concerning ISIS in Syria, had been provided by Israel.

Read more ....

Update: Trump administration extracted US spy from inside Russia government in 2017, report says (The Independent)

WNU Editor: CNN is inferring that because of President Trump this spy was extracted, but admits later on in the report that the intelligence President Trump had declassified was not directly related to the spy in the Russian government. CNN is also saying that multiple sources are acknowledging that a U.S. spy was extracted from Russia, but only one source is saying that it was due to President Trump. There are to many inconsistencies in this report, but I predict that by the end of the day it will be widely spread by the main stream media.

There Are About 10,000 Spies In Washington DC

We Are The Mighty: There are an estimated 10,000 spies in Washington DC

Of the more than 700,000 residents of the capital of the United States, 10,000 of those are actively working in the interests of a foreign power. The city is filled with federal employees, military personnel, contractors, and more who are actively working for the United States government, and some are working to betray its biggest secrets to the highest bidder.

It's an estimate from the DC-based international spy museum – and it's an estimate with which the FBI agrees.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: When it came to spies the focus in Washington has always been on the Soviet Union and later on Russia. No more now. China is the biggest player now.

CIA Sources Go Quiet In Russia

Julian E. Barnes and Matthew Rosenberg, Hamilton Spectator/New York Times: Kremlin sources go quiet, leaving CIA in the dark about Putin’s plans for midterm elections

WASHINGTON — In 2016, U.S. intelligence agencies delivered urgent and explicit warnings about Russia's intentions to try to tip the U.S. presidential election — and a detailed assessment of the operation afterward — thanks in large part to informants close to President Vladimir Putin and in the Kremlin who provided crucial details.

But two years later, the vital Kremlin informants have largely gone silent, leaving the CIA and other spy agencies in the dark about precisely what Putin's intentions are for November's midterm elections, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence.

The officials do not believe the sources have been compromised or killed. Instead, they have concluded they have gone to ground amid more aggressive counter-intelligence by Moscow, including efforts to kill spies, like the poisoning in March in Britain of a former Russian intelligence officer that utilized a rare Russian-made nerve agent.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: When you have the former CIA Director accusing President Trump of being a traitor when it comes to Russia, it is not hard to imagine that CIA sources and contacts in Russia are going to then avoid their American handlers.

Brussels The Spy Capital In Europe?

Politico: Brussels, city of spies

Growing role of EU has made Belgian capital prime target for spooks.

Forget Vienna and Berlin. There’s another big nest of spies in Europe: Brussels.

Suspicions among EU officials that the U.K. spied on them to obtain sensitive Brexit plans made headlines in Britain last week. But for many in the Brussels bubble, spying on both friends and foes is simply business as usual.

For some foreign intelligence agencies, Brussels is a target because it hosts both the European Union and NATO. For others, like some African and Middle Eastern security services, the focus is on large diasporas residing in Belgium that influence politics back home.

In June, the head of Austria’s domestic intelligence agency, Peter Gridling, told reporters that “Brussels has now overtaken Vienna” when it comes to the density of “so-called intelligence services from outside the EU.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: NATO is there. The EU is based there. Centrally located in Western Europe. Good food and wine. People from all over the world are living there .... and enjoying being there. So why not the spies.

This Is How Dozens Of U.S. Spies In China Were Discovered And Executed Over A Two-Year Period

Wikipedia

Foreign Policy: Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents

The number of informants executed in the debacle is higher than initially thought.

It was considered one of the CIA’s worst failures in decades: Over a two-year period starting in late 2010, Chinese authorities systematically dismantled the agency’s network of agents across the country, executing dozens of suspected U.S. spies. But since then, a question has loomed over the entire debacle.

How were the Chinese able to roll up the network?

Now, nearly eight years later, it appears that the agency botched the communication system it used to interact with its sources, according to five current and former intelligence officials. The CIA had imported the system from its Middle East operations, where the online environment was considerably less hazardous, and apparently underestimated China’s ability to penetrate it.

Read more ....

Update: The CIA falsely believed it was 'invincible' in China — here's how its spies were reportedly discovered in one of the biggest blows to the agency (Insider).

WNU Editor: China has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to spies. If you are caught spying, you will be executed.

Inside The CIA's Secret Defector Unit

CNN: Spies in the suburbs: Inside the CIA's secret defector unit

Washington (CNN)Years after defecting from Russia and resettling in the US, former KGB officer Alexander Zaporozhsky was lured back to the country he had once betrayed. The CIA warned him not to go.

Several senior intelligence officials tried unsuccessfully to dissuade Zaporozhsky, who had given the US valuable information that ultimately led to the capture of FBI agent and Russian spy Robert Hanssen, former officials familiar with the case told CNN.

But the Russian intelligence officer turned US asset insisted on returning to Moscow in 2001. He was arrested and imprisoned in Siberia for his connections to the West.

Zaporozhsky was ultimately released in 2010 and sent back to the US as part of a spy swap with Russia that also included Sergei Skripal, a former KGB colonel convicted of spying for Britain after admitting to the crime. The US released 10 individuals accused of operating a Russian spy ring in the US as part of the exchange.

Read more ....

WNU Editor:  Speaking of spies, here is an interesting case in Canada .... Children born to spies in Canada should not be handed citizenship, says Ottawa (CBC).

Ex-CIA Officer Charged With Selling The Identities Of US Spies To China

NBC: Ex-CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee charged with conspiring to spy for China

Court documents revealed that the FBI was concerned about Jerry Chun Shing Lee as far back as 2012.

WASHINGTON — A former CIA officer has been charged with conspiring to give Chinese spies highly classified information about the CIA's covert operations in China.

Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 53, was arrested in January when he arrived in the U.S. on a flight from Hong Kong. He was initially charged with illegally possessing classified information — two handwritten notebooks containing names and phone numbers of covert CIA employees and informants.

But the espionage charge, handed up by a federal grand jury late Tuesday, adds to the seriousness of the case against Lee, an American citizen who joined the CIA in 1994 and left in 2007. He was a case officer, and his primary mission was recruiting clandestine human intelligence sources.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is a story that is not getting the news coverage that it deserves. Former CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee is being accused of exposing the CIA's informer network in China that resulted in long prison sentences or the death penalty for those who were caught.

More News On Ex-CIA Officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee Being Charged With Selling The Identities Of US Spies To China

U.S. indicts ex-CIA officer suspected of passing info to Chinese agents -- CBS/AP
Former CIA officer is charged with espionage -- CNN
Former CIA agent is charged with selling the identities of US spies to China in 2010 scandal that crippled America's intelligence network -- Daily Mail
Ex-CIA Officer Indicted in Dismantling of US Informant Network in China -- New York Times
Ex-CIA officer tried to sell classified info to China, Justice Dept. says -- FOX News
Former CIA official charged with helping China dismantle US spy network that left 'more than a dozen informants dead' -- The Independent
Former CIA Officer Charged With Spying For China -- NPR
Ex-CIA officer indicted as Chinese spy -- Washington Times

Why Do Countries Permit Spies To Operate On Their Territory?

Image from Bridge of Spies

David Martin, DW: Why are Russia and the West allowed to spy on each other?

The expulsion of Russian diplomats from the UK, US and several other NATO states has cast a light on the world of espionage. DW looks at why spies are allowed to even operate in a targeted country in the first place.

At least 25 countries have joined the UK in expelling Russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent attack on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury earlier this month.

The UK is convinced agents backed by Russia were behind the attack. Its allies in the European Union and NATO appear to agree.

Read more ....

WNU editor: The intelligence agencies are also used as back-channels. 

What Is The Difference Between A Diplomat And A Spy?

BBC: When is a diplomat really just a spy?

Theresa May says the 23 Russian diplomats kicked out of Britain are "undeclared intelligence officers".

In other words, they're "spies".

This might surprise anyone who thought the key requirements for being a good diplomat were a firm handshake, a decent backhand and the ability to order a gin and tonic in several languages.

So where do you draw the line between official diplomacy and the murky world of espionage?

"Every embassy in the world has spies," says Prof Anthony Glees, director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham.

And because every country does it, he says there's "an unwritten understanding" that governments are prepared to "turn a blind eye" to what goes on within embassies.

Read more ....

WNU Editor:  A rather good explanation from the BBC.