Russia's Spies Can't Find Work - Or Kindergartens for Their Kids

Since being kicked out of most Western countries from diplomatic missions, the spies are restless

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

They have returned to Russia, being asked to leave by the countries they were assigned as “cultural attaches” in Europe and other parts of the world. They were spies. The consulates and embassies of every country in the world deploy these smooth-talking, cultured “nothing men and women” to be the eyes and ears on the ground. 

Having spent decades in their profession keeping tabs and looking for possible “useful idiots,” like Trump and a handful of other traitors in his administration, one of their most extraordinary talents was to be unnoticeable — the fly on the wall. When the war started, many “official” spies, the ones registered as cultural attaches and administrative workers in the diplomatic missions, were informed that they had to leave. 

These “careerists” — Putin worked similarly before the collapse of the Soviet Union — reside in the host countries, usually with their families. Their work, while technically considered spy work, is quite obviously visible to most counter-espionage forces. They surprise few, and a lot of their work is focused on keeping tabs on the potential for exploiting weaknesses like the “idiots.” 

These spies — and I again happily remind you that this is precisely the kind of work Putin was responsible for and that he was never some Bond-like figure — returned recently to Moscow and their home cities in many cases with no apartments or any belongings. Having lived for decades abroad, their kids, in many cases, don’t even understand life in Russia. Today, there are thousands of them wandering around, unemployed and broke, and asking Putin for help. 

Disgruntled diplomatic staff have signed a letter to Putin about their predicament. It is described as a personal tragedy for many, according to The Insider. The independent Russian-language investigative news outlet said the missive came from a source in the Russian presidential administration, although the names of its 11 signatories are blacked out (Putin’s Spies Expelled by West).

Russia’s spies are everywhere

While the “official” spies are suffering and can’t get their kids into kindergartens, the presence of the unofficial ones is growing. 

Christo Grozev, an investigative journalist with Bellingcat, said he believes Russia’s spy chiefs have switched up how they worked since the invasion of Ukraine began.

“They lost so much of the capacity they had with spies under diplomatic cover,” he told the Guardian. “The short-term operatives they had from Unit 29155 are also now considered to be burned (Putin’s Spies Expelled by West).”

With so many resources from human intelligence (HUMINT) burned, there is a lot of fear among Russian anti-war emigres that, mixed in with the million or so Russians who have left since February 2022, are agents of the FSB — Russia’s security service, formerly known as the KGB. Among the group of Russians, we spend time with who left since the war, many consider one husband and wife pair to be spies — almost like the couple from the show The Americans.

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine did more to weaken the Russian state than any event since the invasion of the German army in 1941. The man so many Russians feel did so much to make Russia great again is the prime reason Russia is flirting with second-world status again.

It reminds me of Trump’s effect on the United States.