Cloak, dagger and a blond wig? FSB says CIA agent nabbed in Moscow
Promises of millions, a new face and detailed instructions on a double-agent conspiracy in Moscow. Bearing the hallmarks of a Cold War spy thriller, Russia’s counterintelligence agency says it caught a CIA officer trying to flip a Russian operative.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) Public Relations Center announced that detained individual was Ryan Christopher Fogle, a career diplomat working as the third secretary of the Political Section of the American embassy in Moscow.
The agency stressed that Christopher had “special technical equipment” in his possession, including an additional wig, a microphone, multiple pairs of dark sunglasses and a lot of cash in euro – along with a Moscow atlas, a compass, two knives, and an American Bic lighter.
The detainee, who was sporting a blond wig at the time of his interception, was delivered to the FSB receiving office for questioning. Following all of the necessary procedures, he was handed over to representatives of the US embassy in Moscow.
The one-page letter to “a dear friend” found in Christopher’s possession was to be clandestinely delivered to the would-be recruit.
The correspondence proposed a US$100,000 payment for an interview with the prospective double agent, as well as $1 million per annum if the candidate chose to accept the mission and supply the American side with information.
Proving its technological prowess in the digital era, the alleged spy further offered step-by-step instructions on how to create a new Gmail account to be used for future contacts.
Ever-so-savvy, the document stressed the importance of not divulging any real contact information like phone numbers, email or home addresses when creating an email account for the purposes of spying on one’s own country.
It further discouraged the use of personal handheld mobile devices and laptops when registering the account, proposing a more anonymous setting like an internet café would be more judicious. If that didn’t pan out, the prospective recruit was told to buy a new mobile device or computer with the express purpose to be used for the express purpose of establishing contact. The new device was to be paid for in cash, and all expenses would be reimbursed.
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May 14, 2013 09:02
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Money, knife, and passport. iStockphoto/Thinkstock.
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MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) – Russian counterintelligence officials briefly detained a US diplomat suspected of being an undercover CIA officer and trying to recruit a Russian agent, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday.
A US Embassy press officer in Moscow said by telephone that she could not comment on the report.
According to an FSB statement, the diplomat, identified as Ryan Christopher Fogle, a third secretary in the political department, was detained the night of May 13 as he attempted to recruit an officer from one of Russia’s special services.
The diplomat was found to be in possession of “special technical devices, written instructions for the Russian citizen being recruited, a large sum of cash and means of changing his appearance,” the statement said.
He was taken to the FSB and, after “necessary procedures” were completed, handed over to US Embassy officials, the FSB said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has summoned US Ambassador Michael McFaul to come in Wednesday to discuss the incident.
News of the detention broke just as McFaul started a live Q&A session on Twitter. He declined to comment on the incident, but the timing of the FSB statement led some bloggers to speculate that its release had deliberately been timed to coincide with the session.
Relations between Moscow and Washington have been strained during McFaul’s tenure as ambassador, with bones of contention including US criticism of Russia’s human rights record and disagreement over the international response to the bloodshed in Syria.
The FSB concluded its statement on the latest incident by saying it had recently registered multiple attempts by US intelligence to recruit agents from among Russian law enforcement and special services.
The FSB released photographs of the detention, including pictures of the man identified as Fogle, his IDs, two floppy wigs, three pairs of glasses, a map of Moscow and a folding knife.
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