The FBI has arrested 10 alleged “deep cover” Russian agents in New York, New Jersey, Arlington, Va., and Boston after a multiyear investigation of Russian intelligence activities in the United States, the Justice Department announced Monday. An 11th defendant charged in the case remains at large.
The 11 were charged in two criminal complaints with acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government within the United States. Nine were also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges were filed in the Southern District of New York.
“The targets of the FBI’s investigation include covert SVR agents who assume false identities and who are living in the United States under long-term, ‘deep cover’ identities,” the complaint states. “These Russian secret agents work to hide all connections between themselves and Russia, even as they act under the control of the SVR. These secret agents are typically called ‘illegals.’ …The SVR also operates a subset of illegals – who perform the same work as illegals but operate in foreign countries under their true names,” it continues. The SVR is the Russian intelligence service.
“The FBI’s investigation has revealed that a network of ‘illegals’ is now living and operating in the United States in the service of one primary, long-term goal: to become sufficiently ‘Americanized’ such that they can gather information about the United States for Russia, and can successfully recruit sources who are in, or able to infiltrate, United States-policymaking circles.”
You can see the complaints here and here. (Source article)
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