ESPIONAGE
Russian Counterintelligence
Russia’s Underwater Secrets Available in Bookshops
Arrest ‘Foreign Spies’
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ikolai Patrushev, head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (formerly KGB) said that five foreign intelligence officers had been caught ‘redhanded’ spying in 2003. “Espionage and other subversive activities of 14 other career spies and 37 agents of foreign governments, including two Russian citizens, have also been stopped,” he said.
Edmond D. Pope (right) pictured with colleague in Russia Anatoly Babkin (far left), who testified at the trial of Edmond Pope, was given an eight-year suspended sentence for allegedly providing Pope with details of a high-speed torpedo. The same details had appeared in publications
Anatoly Babkin, a university professor, one of two named Russian citizens, was given a suspended eight-year sentence for spying for the United States. Babkin was accused of providing details about a secret high-speed torpedo to Edmond Pope who was given a 20-year sentence for espionage, but pardoned in 2000. The other Russian citizen was named as Alexander Zaporozhsky, a former intelligence officer who immigrated to the United States. In June, Zaporozhsky was sentenced to 18-years in prison for spying. He allegedly revealed secret information about the FSB, identifying agents working undercover in the US and also named three American sources working for Russian Intelligence.
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Jane’s Intelligence Review said the weapon had “no Western equivalent.” At the end of the closed trial in December 2000, he was found guilty and sentenced to 20-years hard labour, then almost immediately pardoned by President Vladimir V. Putin. On 14 December 2000, he was released. The doors opened and prison staff helped carry out all of his personal belongings, including 600-pages of notes he had written. These notes were used extensively to draft help Ed’s fascinating book.
Edmond Pope - the Spy Who Never Was...
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n 3 April 2000, Edmond D. Pope, an American businessman was arrested in Moscow, Russia by the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) - and charged with espionage. The Russians said he had acquired top secret information including classified blueprints for a high-speed torpedo, hence the name of his classic book, Torpedoed.
Following an appeal, the Russian Supreme Court upheld the sentence, with Patrushev saying that a number of Russian servicemen had been convicted for revealing state secrets. Although the Cold War has ended, the espionage game between East and West continues apace, with both sides frequently accusing the other of spying. Last year, President Putin told his spy agency to become more active in London. Despite this, Patrushev says that the Federal Security Bureau exchanges a great deal of information with the CIA, FBI, MI6 and 62 other foreign intelligence services.
Russians saw this as dangerous. One blueprint, ‘Shval’ (Squall) had no equal in the West. First deployed by the Soviet Navy in 1977, and then redeveloped, it could travel five times faster than any US or British torpedo.
Edmond D. Pope at the Moscow State University complex
Mr Pope refuted any suggestion of spying and said the data he obtained was available on the open market. The former US Navy officer visited Russia on several previous occasions with his company, CERF Technologies International. CERF had been involved with the assessment and purchase of foreign naval equipment. Pope’s prior role as a US Naval Intelligence officer was a valuable asset, and the E Y E
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Edmond D. Pope was carrying a number of official identification cards when he was arrested - these may have contributed to the FSB’s belief he was a spy E Y E
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