In a case that has all the makings of a blockbuster espionage thriller (screenwriters, commence story-boarding), 11 Americans have been arrested on suspicion of spying on behalf of Russia—accused of recruiting political sources and gathering intel to send back to Moscow. Memebers of the alleged ring have been accused of participating in a “deep cover” assignment for SVR, Russia's version of the CIA and the successor to the Soviet-era KGB. The operatives were dispatched to reside in the U.S. as married couples, and some (in what essentially amounts to spy Method acting) went so far as to have children together, as was stipulated in their duties. The New York Times breaks down their methodology, which included stealthily swapping identical bags as they passed one other in a stairwell, hiding money in the countryside and utilizing invisible writing. Various agents assumed the identities of dead Americans, and according to the charging documents, they were expected to "pursue degrees at target-country universities, obtain employment, and join relevant professional associations," all in the pursuit of becoming "sufficiently Americanized." Many settled in well-to-do suburbs from Seattle to Cambridge, forging what appeared to be ordinary lives. The arrests follow a multi-year probe into the ring.
Read it at The New York Times
