FBI Busts Major Russian Spy Ring That Specialized In Illegally Exporting High Tech Goods To The Russian Military And Intelligence Services

Texas Business Owner Accused Of Being Russian Agent And Selling $50MILLION In Sensitive Military Technology -- Daily Mail

* Alexander Fishenko is accused of using his Houston company, Arc Electronics, to circumvent export rules
* Allegedly sent radar and surveillance systems, weapons guidance systems and detonation triggers s to Russia
* Ten others who worked for Fishenko have also been indicted

A Texas businessman is accused of working as a Russian agent and selling $50million in sensitive military technology to the Russian government.

Alexander Fishenko and ten of his employees were indicted by federal prosecutors on Wednesday on charges they used a Houston-based company to funnel cutting-edge microelectronics out of the country.

Fishenko 46, is a Cold War-era story -- an immigrant from the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan who worked for Soviet military intelligence in the 1980s.

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More News On The FBI Busting A Suspected Russian High-Tech Spy Ring

U.S. Says 11 Exported Technology to Aid Russians -- Wall Street Journal
US charges 11 in Russian military exports ring -- AFP
U.S. breaks up alleged Russian high-tech smuggling network -- Reuters
Feds bust spy ring who smuggled 'cutting-edge' US technology to Russian military since 2008 -- New York Post
Russian Agent Sent Advanced US Military Tech Home: Feds -- ABC News
Eleven charged over 'secret' exports to Russia -- Deutsche Welle
DOJ arrests 11 in alleged illegal export of high-tech goods from US to Russia -- FOX News
Suspected Russian Secret Agent Charged With Trying To Illegally Export American Technology -- Business Insider
U.S. Busts Up Alleged Russian Spy Ring -- RIA Novosti
US court charges 11 Russians with conspiracy to export high-tech electronics -- RT

Russia's Spies Are Watching (And Listening) Each Other

FSB Headquarters on Lubyanka Square, Moscow

Spy Vs. Spy: Wiretapping On The Increase In Russia -- Voice Of America

MOSCOW — Vladimir Ryzhkov has no doubt that he fell victim to a smear operation by Russia's security services.

At the height of the anti-Kremlin protests in January, he and fellow opposition figure Gennady Gudkov, a State Duma deputy, arranged by telephone to meet privately in a downtown cafe. They needed to have an uncomfortable talk about distancing themselves from certain controversial opposition figures.

As it turned out, their little chat wasn't private enough. A mystery third man got to the cafe before them, bugged their table, and clandestinely filmed their conversation. The embarrassing footage soon appeared on the website Life News, a vociferous pro-Kremlin tabloid with alleged ties to the security services.

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My Comment: The more things change .... the more that they stay the same.

Leak Documents Reveal Russian Death Squads Targeting International Opponents

Secret Document Ordered Special Units To 'Eliminate' Russia's Enemies Living Abroad -- Daily Mail

Russia's secret service ordered the creation of special units to 'eliminate' people abroad judged to be enemies of the state, it has been revealed.

A previously unseen document, apparently signed by the head of counter-intelligence of the FSB four years ago, refers specifically to individuals living in the EU.

Dated March 19, 2003, the document would have been written four years before the killing of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London.

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Update: Russia 'gave agents licence to kill' enemies of the state -- The Telegraph

My Comment: Am I surprised .... when it comes to Russia nothing surprised me (being one whose nationality is Russian .... I can get away with saying this). But I am sometimes naive .... because I was surprised about this.

What Do Russian Ex-Spies Do For A Living

Anna Chapman Nude In Playboy, Nabs Political Post -- ABC News

Sexy Russian Spy Will Lead Youth Group For Vladimir Putin.

Nude photos in Playboy are apparently no bar to a political career in Russia. At a ceremony in Moscow today, Russian spy Anna Chapman was appointed a leader of the youth branch of Vladimir Putin's political party, even though she will appear naked in the men's magazine next month.

Chapman has been named head of a new subdivision within the Young Guard, the youth branch of Putin's United Russia party.

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More News On Anna Chapman

Spy Anna Chapman joins Putin's Russian youth group -- Washington Post
Russian spy swap figure elected to pro-government board -- CNN
Spy Anna Chapman 'to lead youth wing of Putin's party' -- The Guardian
Anna Chapman 'to lead youth wing of Putin's United Russia party' -- The Telegraph
Russian Spy Expelled From U.S. Joins Pro-Putin Youth Group -- Bloomberg
Spy Anna Chapman Joins Putin's Russian Youth Group -- NPR/AP
Sexy spy Anna Chapman joins sinister youth wing of Russian PM Vladimir Putin's party -- New York Daily News

Russian Intelligence Officer Turned Traitor Identified In Russian Spy Scandal

Alexander Poteyev, third from the left (standing), is said to be the man who betrayed the Russian spies. This picture was taken in Kabul in 1979 when he was serving in the KGB's 'Zenith' Special Forces Photo: WWW.REGNUM.RU

Ex-KGB Soldier Named As Double Agent Who Exposed Anna Chapman Spy Ring -- The Telegraph

The Russian double agent who exposed a Kremlin spy ring operating in the United States this summer has been unmasked as a former KGB Special Forces soldier whose father was a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Russian intelligence sources told local media that the traitor who gave away Anna Chapman and nine others was Colonel Alexander Poteyev who served in the KGB's elite 'Zenith' Special Forces unit during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

A criminal case for 'state treason' had been opened against him and he will be tried in absentia like other traitors before him, they said.

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My Comment: Amazing .... his father was a "Hero of the Soviet Union". This is as 'elite' as you can get.

This explains why many in Moscow are 'steamed up' over this case .... all of them probably crossed paths with him in the past .... former KGB officer and now Prime Minister Putin included.

Is The KGB Coming Back?

Photo: Vladimir Putin in KGB uniform. (Photo from Wikipedia)

Kremlin Official Issues Death Threat In Russian Spy Scandal. Is The KGB Coming Back? -- Christian Science Monitor

The Russian spy scandal has provoked an upheaval within the country's humiliated foreign intelligence agency. Some are pushing for a recreation of Soviet-era security machinery.

In a bizarre post-script to the Russian spy scandal that resulted in the humiliating return of 10 alleged spies from the US this summer, a Kremlin official claimed today that a hit man has been dispatched to kill the double agent who betrayed a network of moles.

While a handful of Russian defectors have died in suspicious circumstances recently, some analysts believe today's death threat is just bluster to cover up an embarrassing intelligence failure.

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My Comment: With the exception of some old communists who are still alive, no one wants the former KGB back .... including former KGB officer Vladimir Putin. But aside from the rhetoric and public announcements from this particular spy case, most Russians understand that a more professional intelligence service will probably be needed .... and from what I know there is ZERO support to have something like the KGB back in a position of authority.