Blowout

The chapter focuses on the larger-than-life tale of the “Illegals,” a small group of Russian sleeper agents under nonofficial cover who were apprehended by the FBI in June 2010. Despite the ultimate failure of the mission due to the FBI’s investigation and eventual arrest of the sleeper agents, their stories in Russia were told with pride, as “the cell of deep-cover spies had done extraordinary work in the United States, uncovering a trove of useful intelligence while successfully pulling the wool over the eyes of the CIA and the FBI” (126). The Illegals were a reminder to Russians that they could still compete with America, that Russia was still a global force. Yet, as Maddow argues, the story of the Illegals shed light on Russia’s ineptitude to obtain any real, compromising intelligence in America, as the “Illegals had gleaned, well, pretty much nothing they couldn’t have gotten reading their local newspapers” (129). The old spycraft tactics, such as code phrases and even invisible ink, were weak and ineffective, dated and irrelevant. To meddle with US politics and interests, Russia’s strategy would have to change.