Sleeper agents who can spring into action

Russia has sought to strengthen its global spy network since Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, came to power in 2000.

The best-known Russian sleeper agent is Anna Chapman, who was exposed as a deep-cover operative in the US in 2010.

Russia has sought to strengthen its global spy network since President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, came to power in 2000 but its efforts haven’t always been successful.

The Kremlin’s sleeper agents, or “illegals”, use fake identities to integrate into society before springing into action when or if they are needed.

Others have sought to establish close relations with influential figures, including policy makers.

The best-known Russian sleeper agent is Anna Chapman, who was exposed as a deep-cover operative in the US in 2010. She was arrested alongside nine other agents who were later exchanged as part of a spy swap in Vienna. Once back in Moscow, the agents joined Mr Putin for a karaoke-style evening during which they sang Where the Motherland Begins, a Soviet-era song that is the unofficial anthem for the Russian intelligence services.

Other Russian agents have gone to remarkable lengths to disguise their identities. Almost all have posed as citizens of South American countries, thought to be because of lax controls over identity documents there.

Last year police in Slovenia detained a couple called Maria Mayer and Ludwig Gisch who were alleged to be Russian spies posing as Argentinians. Shortly after their arrest, a Russian operative identified as Irina Smireva fled from police in Greece. Smireva, who posed as a Peruvian named Maria Tsalla, was married to a Greek citizen who knew nothing of her double life.

Some deep-cover agents have children who are unaware that their parents are Russian spies. Two of the Russian sleeper agents arrested alongside Chapman had sons who believed that their parents were Canadian citizens called Donald Heathfield and Tracey Foley.

In another recent case, the US alleged that Victor Muller Ferreira, a Brazilian citizen, was in fact Sergey Cherkasov, a Russian military intelligence agent. The alleged spy was exposed last year when he was about to take up an internship at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Cherkasov studied politics at Trinity College Dublin, as well as US foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University. There has been speculation Moscow may seek to swap him for Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in Russia in March on espionage charges widely seen as politically motivated. However, Brazil recently rejected a US request for Cherkasov’s extradition to Washington.

Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has seen a crackdown on Russian spies in the West. Richard Moore, the head of MI6, said last year that half of all Russian intelligence officers employed at embassies across Europe had been expelled since Russia invaded Ukraine. That figure is likely to be even higher after Austria, Germany, Moldova, Norway, Poland and Sweden expelled Russian embassy staff this year over espionage and national security concerns.

The expulsions may prove to be nothing more than a temporary setback for Moscow’s spy ring. “A dragon grows two or three new heads when one is torn off. That’s more or less the same situation with Russian spies,” Sergei Zhirnov, an ex-KGB officer, told Ukrainian media last week.

The Times