We discovered our parents were Russian spies

[Artoemius]

The most interesting thing for me is how easily KGB survived the fall of the USSR. Not only did they seamlessly continue all their espionage programs started during the Cold War, but they also easily came back into full power in less than a decade, appointing one of their agents as the ruler of Russia for life.

This shows the power of any major secret service. They can do literally anything they want. They don't care about anything except their own survival, and they will easily adapt to any circumstances and any political climate.

[rdtsc]

The Spy Handler book ( http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Handler-Officer-Recruited-Hanssen/... ) written by the KGB officer, who handled both Ames and Hanssen, explains a bit how the whole thing looked like from inside the KGB.

The KGB along with the party and the Soviet Army were kind of the ironic counter part to the balance-of-powers system the US has. Each one had its strengths and weaknesses and they could keep an eye on each other. KGB was special because it had the information, the best educated people, it knew were resources were, how to get to them etc. When people talk about a conspiracy cabal that would control and pull strings behind the scenes, it was that cabal.

Because of the KGB was best positioned to take advantage of the power vacuum and many had turned to grab as many resources as possible after the fall of the Soviet Union. The most patriotic communists had turned super-capitalist practically overnight.

But at the same time, however, by late 80s and 90s few really believed in the "cause" so to speak. They probably all just wanted cushy jobs, fancy apartments and big pensions when they retired. And of course there were a lot of defections.

Even this group of spies from the story, remembering how many were making fun of their stupid and outdated methods, or praising the FBI for uncovering them, was ultimately betrayed by a defector. So was Hanssen.

Wondering if perhaps now SVR is in a better position today, as at least there is no need to pretend do believe in any great communist cause and then be disillusioned later, and defect. Perhaps now it is just business -- "You get a good job and if you betray us we'll find you and sprinkle some Polonium-210 in your tea".

[pjmlp]

This is why having been born just out of dictatorship in Portugal, and knowing how the McCarthy worked out, why I always wonder how US citizens have this glamours idea that their secret services follow some kind of law, besides their own agenda.

[int0x80]

This is a very interesting book analazing and explaining the situation by former chess world champ. G. Kasparov: Winter is comming (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1610396200/).

[chinathrow]

> This shows the power of any major secret service. They can do literally anything they want. They don't care about anything except their own survival, and they will easily adapt to any circumstances and any political climate.

And that is the reason we should get rid of them. It's anti-democratic in large parts.

[cperciva]

they are fighting a legal battle to win back their Canadian citizenship, stripped from them six years ago. They believe it is unfair and illegal that they are expected to answer for the sins of their parents

This is mis-stating (I suspect deliberately) the situation under Canadian law. They weren't "stripped" of Canadian citizenship (as can happen to war criminals who lie on their citizenship applications); rather, it was discovered that they had never been Canadian citizens in the first place. Their parents lied to them and told them that they were Canadians; but the fact that they were harmed by their parents' fraud is not a reason for the fraud to be made reality.

On the other hand, the Canadian government does seem to be wrong when it comes to blaming them for the circumstances and annulling Alex's student visa. The fact that have they lived in Canada and identify as Canadian seems like strong considerations in support of an application for a visa or even permanent residence; the fact that they were tricked into thinking that they were Canadian once doesn't mean that they shouldn't have the opportunity to truly become Canadian.

[the_mitsuhiko]

They were born in Canada so they should be citizens independently of their parents.

[mookerific]

It clearly sounds like money is no obstacle, and perhaps this is due to the parents' return to Russia as heroes and subsequent plush career placements.

So while the kids's psyche are probably quite damaged, they won't be going hungry.

Very interesting read.

[id122015]

maybe its time for all the people everywhere to start to act like secret agents, and thus we can achieve equality. Never talk about yourself, fake your CV or dont have one, mount recording cameras everywhere around you,use SSL, dont care too much about the borders that governments make. You will not suffer that much as real agents do sometimes. No more ambush sufferings either, as people will avoid meeting in public crowds.

[cafard]

I assumed at the time, and at the time of other similar busts, that US counterintelligence (mostly but probably not entirely the CIA), is aware of some number of persons doing illicit intelligence-gathering here. Whether, when, and whom to arrest and deport I take to depend on factors including whether our agents have been arrested, whether there is some other point we need to make, etc. I would not be surprised to learn that more than another ten Russian agents remained known or at least suspected, but unmolested for various reasons: to protect informants, to channel information or misinformation through them, or simply to have someone to arrest a few years down the road.

[pbreit]

Surprised not a single mention of "The Americans" which sounds very similar (and a great show).

Edit: my bad. I did a search and it didn't return anything.

[greenyoda]

The article does mention "The Americans":

"If Tim and Alex’s story sounds eerily familiar to fans of The Americans, the television drama about a KGB couple living in the US with their two children, that’s because it’s partly based on them. ..."

[chatmasta]

Except for this one:

> If Tim and Alex’s story sounds eerily familiar to fans of The Americans, the television drama about a KGB couple living in the US with their two children, that’s because it’s partly based on them.

[piyush_soni]

Ok people, no need to be so harsh about a simple mistake. We all do them.

[osipov]

I liked the 1st season and stopped watching in the middle of the 2nd one, felt that the writers deliberately tried to make the main characters less likable than they were in the beginning.

[santoshalper]

If only you had done a search with your eyeballs, by reading the article.

[RaleyField]

Not sure what the purpose of your reply is. It's clear that you haven't read the article nor even bothered to ctrl+f, as that would reveal it is mentioned that the family was inspiration for the show.

[Pingviini]

This is a pretty cool story. A shame they got caught. :(

[gaius]

This is probably quite common among Grauniad writers.

[zaro]

To me, after all the Snowden leaks , the story about two Russian spies sounds kind of ridiculous because of the level of hypocrisy :)

[zaro]

Usually hypocrites don't like it hypocrisy being mentioned ...