Pebble Dashed
‘WHERES the trust these days? Four MI6 spies posing as Foreign Office Officials in Russia have been caught red-handed collecting information. Fair enough.
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The rock knows all |
But did the Russians have to film them going about their undercover work and then broadcast the footage to the nation?
How dare the Russians suspect us of spying. Arent we all friends these days, sheltering from the threat of terrorism under a big Eurovision umbrella? As we ask, wheres the trust? Russia: nil points.
Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB officer who defected to the West, is heard by the Mail saying that the film is a sign of the Russians desire to hurt Britain, its an advertisement for the KGB.
Its view shared by Alex Standish, editor of Janes Intelligence Review who says its naïve not to see the operation as a public relations exercise for Vladimir Putins government.
Or it might just have been a chance to inject a bit of winter cheer into the Russian peoples hearts, a kind of Rosa Klebbs Home Videos.
A look at a still from the video suggests that the four-strong British spy squad were not all that good at their jobs an idea supported by their capture.
The thinking is that the spies would store their information on handheld devices then, when wandering past a covert boulder on the outskirts of Moscow, flick a switch and retrieve and transmit vital secrets.
Yes, a boulder. So as you know, this is a dead letter drop, a place where sources can leave information without ever meeting an agent.
The Express says the information might have something to do with non-governmental organisations – the MI6 team are accused to channelling funds to human rights groups in the area.
But while the voiceover on Russian TV warns of nefarious foreigners, the pictures tell a different story.
The Express publishes a shot of one of the four, Andrew Fleming, wandering past a rock in which a hi-tech transmitting device has been stored. He then logs on by drawing back his right leg and giving the rock a kick.
While the Russians talk of danger, the need for vigilance and the enemy in our midst, the pictures show a bumbling spy checking the robustness of his equipment with a kick.
Another shot, this time in the Sun, shows one of the cunning crew lifting up the stone as if its, well, hollow. Another agent is seen standing close to the rock and pretending to nonchalantly wee against a tree otherwise known as Agent Bark.’
Posted: 24th, January 2006 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
