July11, 2010
THE SPIES AMONG US?
Stunning Anna Chapman, 28, is an aspiring New York City entrepreneur and, authorities allege, a spy for Russia.
Smart, sexy and socially savvy, Anna Chapman gave off the high-voltage vibe of an ambitious Russian émigré who’d crossed the Atlantic to claim her slice of the American dream. “If you can dream it,” she wrote on her Facebook page, “you can become it.” With the high life firmly in her sights, Chap man, 28, worked tirelessly by day to
build an online real estate business that showcased properties on several continents, leaning on her charm, confidence and grasp of high-tech lingo to court wealthy influential clients. By night she worked the club scene, where she mixed pleasure with business. “She was an exceptional entrepreneur,” says a business associate. “It’s well known that entrepreneur are adventurous by character.”
So are spies—and according to U.S. authorities, Chapman was both. In a scene worthy of a John le Carré novel, she was among 10 men and women rounded up in four states by the FBI on June 27 on suspicion of spying for Russia. The Justice Department charges all with conspiring to act as agents of a foreign government and alleges that their mission was “to search and develop ties in policymaking circles” in the U.S., then send intelligence reports to Moscow. Americans, who consider the Cold War a distant memory, were shocked to learn Russian spies might be in our midst. But Boris Korczak, a former double agent who worked for the CIA while spying on the now-defunct KGB, says, “This little network, it is one of many around the United States.”
‘While most of the suspects maintained the sort of unremarkable pro files that left neighbors in shock (see box), Chapman, with her glamorous looks, has attracted special attention. The tabloids paint her as a real-life Bond girl, capitalizing on her allure to extract state secrets. But associates say she’s a credible businesswoman with a talent for meeting high-powered types. “She probably networked her way into the wrong place at the wrong time,” says Said Abdullaev, who in 2008 worked with Chapman in Moscow. Ilya Ponomarev, a member of the Russian parliament, is convinced any contact Chapman might have had with Russian authorities was nothing more than routine questioning of a citizen living abroad: “It’s normal practice.”
The daughter of a Russian diplomat, Chapman studied economics in Russia, then moved to London. There, at a rave, a young Englishman named Alex Chapman spotted her across a dance floor. Five months lat er they married; after four years, they divorced.”Toward the end of our mar riage,” Alex told the Daily Teigraph, his once-Bohemian wife “became very secretive. . . going for meetings on her own with ‘Russian friends.”
Now Chapman is in the least glamorous of places: solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. “She has no access to cell or TV;” says her public defender, Robert Baum, “and is out one hour a day.” He calls the charge against her “legally insufficient” and points out that Anna has been living in the U.S. only since January and that, unlike many of the other suspects, she was never seen passing information to a Russian han dler. Baum says the only time Chapman met with a U.S. agent posing as a Russian official, she ignored his instruction to deliver a forged passport and instead “the next day she went to the New York police and delivered it to them.” Chap man would love to return to her 52nd- floor apartment in a high-rise near Wall Street with views of the Hudson River. But if she’s found guilty, she could be staring at bars for the next five years.
By Jilt Smolowe. Reported by Nicole
Weisensee Egan, Diane Herbst and
Simon Perry
What happened to the women with the armpits smelling with sweat working for the Soviet KGB and GRU? A new model of the Russian intelligence stepped in.
What happened to the poorly fitting cheap suits and poplin overcoats worn proudly by the Soviet agents? Well dressed, well groomed, well educated SVR men are here.
But most of all what happened to well organized networks of Soviet spies deep inside Western Countries?
Well – They all changed as soon as Comrade Putin took over former USSR and called it the Russian Federation. Medvedev is only a shield giving the illusion of democratic changes in Russia. It is Vladimir Putting running this show.
The agents are dressed in well tailored suits; they take a bath once a day and stopped driving drunk in the streets of Washington D.C.
The illegals?
Oh well. Illegals were always a perfectly mirrored picture of the western societies, United-Kingdomized, Franconized, Italianized and of course Americanized, depending where their cells of espionage functioned.
Their men were well trained in the make-believe western-like secret towns deep inside taiga, heavily guarded and inaccessible to the Russian population.
But there is something missing, something I might call missing caution approach to espionage for the future “sleepers”.
Well dressed and gorgeous women straight from the “charm schools” of SVR are hard not to spot and recognize as Russians. A worm-on-a-hook to charm and satisfy aging influential Westerner is here.
Anna Chapman, (Kushchenko), 28 years old beauty has a face that could not full me. She looks Russian and if I have ever met her I would switch into Russian instantly.
I probably would have a minute or more of heart-beat skipping and have a quick day dream but I would for sure not be fooled by her almost perfect English or French that was supposed to be from Quebec but was missing the Quebec’s lingo.
Russian high cheeks and slavic face should not full a good observer.
A chess game where the quinn is after your king.
Definitely it is a chess game that goes on for ever and will never stop.
They spy on us, we spy on them and if caught we secretly meet together and talk about the exchange of our spies. Even our “friends” spy on us .
As of this article writting an Israeli suspected of being involved in the Dubai Hamas killing was arrested last week at Warsaw airport, it has been revealed. It would be appropiate to mention that many Mossad agents are former KGB agents who left USSR and moved to Israel in 70′s.
How about the rest of the Russian bunch?
Christopher R. Metsos has skipped the bail in Cyprus and disappeared with some help from the Russian sleeper’s cell. Cypriot government is a bit upset, but they were foolish enough to please the Russian government. US is furious but what can US do?
There are others in American jails like Richard and Cynthia Murphy
Donald Howard Heathfield – Died of natural causes so we don’t care about this guy.
There is Tracey Lee Ann Foley, Michael Zottoli whose real name is Mikhail Kutzik and Patricia Mills for real - Natalia Pereverzeva and Juan Lazarro who has already confessed to work for the Russian Intelligence. He already divulged some secrets about the “moles” and m.o of the cell. Chances are he will be exchanged for Igor Sutyagin who allegedly spied for the CIA, and was sentenced to 15 years in Russian prison.
The whole thing would be of course suitable for the movie if not the reason for the FBI busting this bunch that obviously has not done their job yet. They have not caused any damage to the US and the only crime is not registering as the foreign agents and money laundering.
There are forces in US that would do anything and everything to knock Obama Administration down.
Could the “Russian spy ring affair” damage newly established US-Russia fragile friendship?
The time will show.
What a humanitarian gesture of this “democratic and peace loving” country who just happen to kill some Palestinian women. children and thousands of civilians from time to time.
As of next week, Israel will allow a wider variety of food, such as potato crisps, biscuits, canned fruit and packaged hummus, as well as soft drinks and juice, into the Gaza Strip.
These pesky Gazans don’t need any ships with their humanitarian help, they will get all the help they need from their masters, Israel.
Now the Palestinians can have a Coke and chips while sitting on the ruins of their homes, watching Israel destroying what’s left of Gaza, like the olive trees buldozzed by Israel. Some of them hundreds of years old.
From now on Palestinians in Gaza can die with a biscuit and potato chips in their stomachs and enjoy their concentration camp on their own land, watching the uprooted olive trees by Israeli bulldozers and their homes in ruin.
Some, more refine Gazans might even get a can of juice and they might open a can of fruit, thinking – “what a wonderful world”. Others with more refine test will go for the packaged hummus and express their gratitude to Israel.
If that will not pacify them then … what a hell, Israel can bomb them some more and take all these snacks away. They can do it because the “big Brother”, the USA will support them and look the other way.
US will ship some fresh bombs and rockets, ship-loads of them. They might also ship some fresh rocks to Palestinians, so they wouldn’t be completely defenseless.
Hassan Abu Libdeh, the Palestinian Economy Minister said in Ramallah about the “permitted” snacks: “They will send the first course. We are waiting for the main course,” “We are waiting for this unjust siege to end.” Yea,Right.
The UN says the Israeli blockade has caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Such a silly allegation Israel denies. What humanitarian crisis can be there while those pesky Hamas Islamists get their snacks? Hah?
Cement will not be allowed. Can you imagine cement rockets falling on Tel Aviv? Israel can.
