Every Russki in America arrested for spying

[Magda Hassan]

US claims 'Russian spies' used British passports

By Channel 4 News
Updated on 29 June 2010

Government officials have confirmed to Channel 4 News they are investigating the alleged use of fake British and Irish passports by suspected Russian spies in America. Sarah Smith reports from the US on a plot worthy of a Cold War drama.

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Members of the alleged spy ring, who were rounded up in FBI raids in Boston, New York, New Jersey and Virginia, were using fake British and Irish passports, according to US government papers.
See the full charge sheet here.
The FBI arrested 10 people for allegedly serving for years as secret agents of Russia's intelligence service, the SVR, with the goal of penetrating US government policymaking circles.
US Department of Justice papers said that Tracey Lee Ann Foley travelled on a "fraudulent British passport prepared for her by the SVR". Foley was arrested in Boston on Monday.
The New York Times has reported that the FBI moved to arrest the spy ring suspects because they feared one of them was about to leave the US.

In a statement Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he hopes the case does not "reverse positive gains" in US-Russian relations. Earlier, officials in Moscow said the suspect had never acted against US interests.

More from Channel 4 News on the Russian spy allegations
- Read the charge sheet against the alleged spies (.pdf)
- Spies who came in from the suburbs
- I spy: from Trolleygate to exploding cigars
- US to Russia: we know who your spies are
A Foreign Office spokeswoman has told Channel 4 News: "We have seen the reports and, obviously, we will look into them."
Members of the group are accused of conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of a foreign government. Nine of them also face a charge of conspiracy to launder money. An eleventh suspect named "Christopher R Metsos" was arrested earlier in Cyprus.

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Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Irish government has told Channel 4 News: "The Department of Foreign Affairs has, this morning, learned that a person arrested in the United States on suspicion of espionage activity is alleged to have travelled on a forged Irish passport.
"The Deparment of Foreign Affairs will be seeking to obtain further information in relation to these reports. The firm position of the government in regard to fraudulent use of Irish passports is a matter of record."


Professor Christopher Andrew, the official historian of MI5 who has also written about Russian and US security services, told Channel 4 News the Russians are, at root, nostalgic about the "glory days" of espionage.

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He said: "During the Cold War they were brilliant at producing disguises. It's simply that there isn't very much evidence that these illegals, who spent years and years training for the job, actually collected anything very worthwhile.
"It is partly about commercial secrets but it's just an old tradition which they keep hankering back to."
Meanwhile, a former British intelligence agent Oleg Gordievsky believes the significance of the latest development is that the FBI is saying to the Russians "we know who your spies in the US are."
He explained: "When I visited the US, in the late 1980s and 1990s, I was struck then by how much the FBI knew about the KGB 'illegals'. I was very impressed. The fact is, the United States is spied upon more than any other country in the world."