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EESTI ELU reedel, 30. juulil 2021 — Friday, July 30, 2021
Nr. 30
Halfway Through: Estonia and Canada at the Olympics English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publications Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca Digital: www.eestielu.ca
Russian-friendly persuasion, not recruitment
As a recognized opinion maker he is a regular invitee to the numerous soirées in Ottawa. At these gatherings he has often chatted with a Russian diplo mat, ostensibly a cultural In Russian intelligence attaché, Z.V., but in reality a parlance the ‘non-recruit’ is military intelligence officer of known as a ‘confidential the SVR, the Russian Foreign contact’ (CC). CCs are colla Intelligence Service. borators with whom it’s easy Over many casual contacts for Russian intelligence pro and usually after a couple of fessionals to develop a useful, cocktails, Z.V. discovers A.N.’s confidential relationship. personal passion – cinema, As a contrast with regular e astern European cinema, recruits, very seldom are they including Russian. Recognizing caught up in a media-energized this as enhancing friendship spy scandal. And it’s most likely ties, Z.V. makes himself an that the CC is not in violation expert on Russian cinema prac of any law of his home country tically overnight. – therefore not worried about At their next ‘unscheduled’ arrest and conviction. For CC’s encounter, Z.V. gifts A.N. with it’s substantially lower risk a DVD, a popular Russian collaboration than the co- movie, with English sub-titles. operation offered by a recruit. The gifts continue and contacts The CC is sometimes not are boosted a notch, to lunches, aware of the situation into with sufficient booze that which he has been seduced, removes some social barriers. often not allowing himself to A.N. makes it known that the believe the circumstances in exploitation of Soviet and which he has been caught up. current Russian cinema as a And the experienced Russian propaganda vehicle for the handler knows the elegance of Kremlin is his real biding in this achievement. terest. Developing confidential con Z.V. has honed his recruit tacts has not been left to any ment skills at several postings spontaneity or innate adapta abroad under diplomatic cover bility of Russian intelligence and reveals something which he officers. In 1977 the KGB pub claims his cohorts at the em lished a limited 220 copies of a bassy don’t realize – his deep training manual devoted to CCs. disappointment with the Krem It detailed the processing, tar lin’s continued interference in geting and handling of them, cultural matters. Just look at the and how they are a separate desperation of Nureyev and category of collaborators from Baryshnikov when they defected regular agents. decades ago and the suppres They don’t need clandestine sion of the anti-Putin female safeguards to pass on material rock band a few years back. to their Russian contacts and A.N. is impressed with the the material they supply is self-revealing candour of Z.V.’s usually not rated as classified. secret admissions. Even though In fact they are engaged with he doesn’t need managerial ap their handlers in the open, go proval to express any personal ing about their daily routine. political views in his columns, There’s nothing odd about a A.N. identifies with Z.V.’s re journalist or politician having belliousness, his seeming con lunch with the cultural attaché cern for freedom of expression, of the Russian embassy. even if it’s done in strict confi Favourite CC targets for dence b etween the two. After a rare third lunchtime Russian intelligence are busi cocktail, A.N. feels sufficiently nessmen, scientists, engineers, relaxed to share some sensitive IT specialists, politicians, diplo information about a senior mats and of course, journalists. c abinet minister’s extra-marital Consider the background of peccadilloes which A.N. has A.N., columnist for a major c onfirmed to be fact, not Canadian newspaper chain and r umour. veteran member of the Parlia mentary Press Gallery in While revealing this to any Ottawa. His stature as a political one other than A.N.’s editor, pundit makes him a favourite could be cause for dismissal, conversation partner by both the A.N. hasn’t violated any elected and non-elected cogni Canadian law. But now he’s a zanti of Ottawa society. confidential contact. He’s prob
Vincent Teetsov It was a sparse in-person turnout on the night of July 23rd, for the opening cere mony of the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Most seats were empty inside the stadium. 30 of 370 Canadian athletes were part of the parade of nations, with the others sitting on bean bags, watching from screens in the Olympic Village. Outside, there were protests against the continuation of the games. However, everyone who was able to be there gave a level of cheer and enthu siasm that endeavoured to bring viewers back to the essence of the Olympics. The Canadian athletes strolled through looking sharp in white trousers and red jackets, with white maple leaf logos on their backs. From Estonia, there was a contingent in the stadium of 13 Estonians out of 33 athletes sent to Tokyo. Women were wearing blue dresses and men wore blue suit jackets with a t-shirt and shorts. Each outfit included a printed design of a foggy Estonian landscape. Leading up to the lighting of the Olympic torch by tennis superstar Naomi Osaka, the ceremony itself had a melange of national symbols featured. There were fly-over shots of tightly choreographed dancers at Shibuya Crossing. Kabuki theatre was fused together with a shower of rapid fire grand piano played by Hiromi Uehara. A funny skit of a lighting engineer playing around with the city lights of Tokyo was nestled between motifs of in ternational cooperation, like a globe (formed by drones) hovering above the National Stadium or the Olympic Hymn sung by a young choir. Looking up to the flames fluttering in the metallic nest of the torch, the athletes of 206 countries, including Estonia and Canada, were left to prepare
ably unaware of any status he has with the Russian embassy, even less any intelligence agency. He’s also unaware that he had been spotted and vetted much before he met Z.V. He might recognize the eagerness with which Z.V. had nurtured the growing relationship, but experienced Russian recruiters know when not to appear too earnest in getting closer and gaining mutual trust. For Z.V., A.N. must remain convinced that he’s a Russian diplomat who has been man dated to strengthen cultural ties between the two countries. (Part II was published in July 23 issue.) LAAS LEIVAT
Estonian athletes entering at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 opening ceremony. Photo: reporter.ee
themselves for one of the most public tests of their physical strength; certainly a major return for international sports in the minds of spectators. On this international stage, Estonia is competing in 14 d ifferent sports: archery, athletics, badminton, cycling, equestrian, fencing, judo, row ing, sailing, shooting, swim ming, tennis, triathlon, and wrestling. The first Estonian to com pete in this year’s Olympic Games was Reena Pärnat, an archer, who achieved 53rd place with a score of 626 in the first round. The men’s quadruple scull rowing crew (made up of Jüri-Mikk Udam, Allar Raja, Tõnu Endrekson, and Kaspar Taimsoo) pushed their way into third place on Saturday July 24th, to earn their chance to compete in the finals. Amidst both of these events, weather conditions have been tough and haven’t done any favours for athletes. The scorch ing over-30 degree heat and 80 percent humidity of summer in Tokyo meant that Jüri-Mikk Udam needed medical attention right after racing. During an archery qualification round on Friday July 23rd, an archer from the Russian Olympic Committee, Svetlana Gom boeva, fainted as a result of heatstroke and was taken away on a stretcher. Furthermore, athletes have rigorous COVID-19 protocols to follow. To begin with, athletes aren’t allowed inside the Olympic Village until five days before they compete. Social distancing, masks, and hand sanitizer use are upheld as they go about their daily pre parations for events, when they go to eat, and when they rest between events. When eating in the dining hall, they sit in plexi glass cubicles, which must be disinfected thoroughly with wipes between uses. Additional stressors like these in the leadup to competition can be a burden. At the time of writing this article, Estonia has won two medals. Estonia’s first medal this year (a bronze) was won on July 24th, when Katrina Lehis was victorious over Aizanat Murtazaeva from the Russian Olympic Committee, in women’s individual épée fencing. It was a close match in the first period, but by the end of the second period, Lehis had taken a lead that would grow until she won
15:8 at the end. This victory was then magni fied when, on the 27th, Lehis – along with Julia Beljajeva, Irina Embrich, and Erika Kirpu – won the gold medal in women’s team épée. The four fencers were facing off against South Korea over the nine matches of the finals, culminating in a tense ending between Lehis and Injeong Choi. In other sports, coming up on the 4th of August, the men’s decathlon events will begin (9:00 AM Tokyo time, 8:00 PM Toronto time the day before). Team Estonia has a trio of decathletes at the Olympic games: Johannes Erm, Karel Tilga, and Maicel Uibo. The three of them have all competed for the University of Georgia Bulldogs in the US, recruited by track and field head coach Petros Kyprianou. Erm is an NCAA champion. Uibo achieved 24th place at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Tilga, who, in March 2021 achieved the second highest indoor heptathlon score in NCAA his tory, has been dubbed by various commentators as “the silent assassin” and “the Estonian polar bear.” Tilga has voiced the dedication that goes into these competitions, from training to recovery, nutrition, and taking care of one’s body. The world is watching closely to see how the final ingredient, strength of mind, will pull them through to victory. For Canada, Maude Charron won a gold medal in weightlift ing. Maggie MacNeil won a gold medal in the 100m butter fly swimming event. A silver medal was won in the pool for the women’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay, in the women’s 100m backstroke event, and in the 3m synchronized springboard di ving event. Two bronze medals were won in judo, by Jessica Klimkait and Catherine Beau chemin-Pinard. Canada also won a bronze medal in softball against Mexico. Despite all of the hurdles (some more literal than others) faced by athletes this time around, they are keeping their eyes on the physical excellence and sportsmanship that make the Olympics a treat to observe every two years. Keep tabs on the many events by going to cbc.ca/ sports/olympics/summer or by downloading the CBC Gem app, which allows casting of video content to another screen.
