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TOPIC: spies

FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Snitch Nation: How Putin's Regime Is Getting Russians To Turn In Their Neighbors

The war in Ukraine has launched an epidemic of denunciations in Russia: 145,000 individual reports to the security services in just the first six months of the war. It's the latest evidence of the current regime's Stalinist approach.

On July 30, 1937, a secret Soviet order launched the Great Terror – a period of mass repressions during which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.

The order from dictator Joseph Stalin was dubbed, “On repressive operations of former Kulaks, criminals and other anti-Soviet elements,” and aimed to root out enemies of the Communist party by calling on citizens to denounce their neighbors to police and KGB agents, who had to meet arrest quotas set for each Soviet republic.

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In slogans, posters, work meetings, newspaper articles, books and films, official media and channels presented the denunciation of suspected enemies as every citizen’s duty to the Motherland.

Without mass participation in the search for traitors, the number of victims of repression and prisoners in camps would have been significantly lower. The Great Terror led to the arrest of 1.4 million people, and the deaths of at least 700,000 – although the real number is likely higher.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war against Ukraine, Russia and its current leader Vladimir Putin have been increasingly compared to Stalin and the Soviet Union during the era of the Great Terror. And the latest proof is in the explosion of similar denunciations by common citizens.

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Nordic 007: The Quiet Rise Of Russian Spies In Sweden

This week marks the opening of what's been described as the biggest Swedish espionage case since the end of the Cold War, as tensions rise in the face of the Russian war in Ukraine.

STOCKHOLM — “Disappear in Sweden,” “Prosecuted before questioning,” “Spy.”

These are a few examples of the 28 internet searches Payam Kia did shortly before being arrested in November 2021, according to Stockholm based daily Aftonbladet.

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Two months earlier, his older brother Peyman, a former employee of the Swedish armed forces and security services, had been arrested on charges of aggravated espionage. The two brothers, who lived together in Uppsala, about an hour north of Stockholm, had long been suspected of sharing classified information. But it was only on November 11 that prosecutors brought charges against them, after having gathered enough evidence to support what has been described as Sweden’s largest espionage case since the end of the Cold War.

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How To Welcome Russians Fleeing Conscription? Europe Should Be Careful

Europe should welcome the exodus of conscientious objectors from Russia. But the conditions vary across the continent, and there needs to be some security precautions.

-Analysis-

BERLIN — Russia's President Vladimir Putin is currently suffering his greatest defeat in the battle for terrain, but also public opinion.

The Kremlin may spread as much propaganda as it likes, but the pictures of kilometer-long lines of cars at the borders and thousands of young men fleeing abroad to avoid the draft with hastily packed bags show clearly what the Russian population thinks of Moscow's war of aggression.

In this sense, one can only hope that the stream will continue to flow for a long time.

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But how should European governments deal with the mass of fleeing conscientious objectors?

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Japan Haunted By Chilling History Of North Korean Kidnappings

For years, Pyongyang kidnapped hundreds of people from neighboring countries, in order to train spies in foreign languages and cultures, or to steal identities. Today, their families are still looking for them.

TOKYO — When Rumiko Masumoto, a 24-year-old secretary, left home the evening of August 12, 1978, she told her parents she'd only be gone a few minutes. She and her fiancé Shuichi Ichikawa were going to take photos of the sunset on Fukiage Beach in Kagoshima. It was muggy out that evening in the southern Japanese town, but the sky was clear. She would come back quickly so she could spend time with her brother Teruaki, a student at Hokkaido University who was home for a few days on school holiday.

"That was the last time we saw her," the brother recalled recently.

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Sources
Éric Albert

Remembering Churchill's Angels, The Women Spies Behind The French Resistance

Seven decades after Winston Churchill's secret coterie of female spies were sent undercover during World War II, the United Kingdom is honoring their service and sacrifice.

TEMPSFORD — In the back of the B-24 Liberator, amid the deafening sounds of the American bomber’s engines, Violette Szabó and her three comrades champed at the bit during the night of June 7, 1944. The Normandy landings had just begun, and stress was high. Their mission was to parachute near Limoges to slow the dreaded German Das Reich division as much as possible, which was heading north to block the allied forces.

“Our flight lasted three hours, so we got a pack of cards out and played poker,” recalls 90-year-old Bob Maloubier.

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eyes on the U.S.

Bradley Manning Apologizes

THE GUARDIAN (UK)

Worldcrunch

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Geopolitics

Iran Hangs Two Accused Of Spying For CIA, Mossad

AL BAWABA (Jordan), IRAN’S VIEW, PRESS TV (Iran), REUTERS, CNN (U.S.)

Worldcrunch

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Russia

Signs Of A New US-Russia Spy War?

VOICE OF RUSSIA, KOMMERSANT (Russia) HOUSTON PRESS, (US)

MOSCOW - Russian authorities are staying mostly mum since the United States accused 11 people this week, all from countries in the former Soviet Union, of illegal export of high-tech military equipment and money laundering.

Moscow-based daily Kommersant reports that seven of the 11 accused were arrested near Houston, and an additional member of the group of accused was arrested later at the airport. The US is searching for the last three accused, and the US authorities think they are hiding in Russia, Kommersant reports.

The US has said that the leader of the group was a 46-year-old man originally from Kazakhstan named Aleksander Fishenko. Fishenko obtained American citizenship in 2003, but is accused of having lied on his original application for refugee status in the US. More importantly, US authorities say that his electronics company, which brought in more than $50 million since 2002, was used to illegally export to Russia, Kommersant reports.

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Geopolitics

Report: Ex Libyan Spy Chief Says French, Syrian Agents Behind Gaddafi's Death

MEDIAPART (France), CORRIERE DELLA SERA (Italy) DREAM TV (Egypt)

Worldcrunch

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