The Extraordinary Story: The bureau for hiding defectors

From: The Economist IE Sep-15-2024 11:19:am

Read in browser

March 26th 2023

The Extraordinary Story

Long reads and life from 1843 magazine, delivered every Sunday

Espionage

The bureau for hiding defectors

Inside the CIA programme for resettling foreign spies

On a September morning in 2019, a horde of journalists stampeded into a tranquil suburb in Virginia and parked their TV trucks on the edge of a vast green lawn. Only days earlier, the six-bedroom home had been occupied by Oleg Smolenkov, a former Russian diplomat, and his family. Now it was empty.

The CIA had smuggled the family out of Russia in June 2017, a reward for the years Smolenkov spent spying for the agency as an aide to Vladimir Putin’s foreign-policy adviser. Much of the evidence about Putin’s secret campaign to sway the 2016 presidential election in Donald Trump’s favour is thought to have come from Smolenkov, although the American government has not acknowledged this.

Five months after Trump took office, the baby-faced Smolenkov flew with his wife and three children to Porto Montenegro, a resort on the Adriatic Sea favoured by wealthy Russians. The Russian government had banned employees from travelling to Montenegro owing to friction between the two countries, but the Smolenkovs weren’t planning to stay long. The CIA quickly spirited them away to America.

Once they landed, the Smolenkovs were greeted by officers from the National Resettlement Operations Centre (NROC), the CIA’s little-known programme for foreign agents who defect to America.

Read the full article →

Get The Economist free for a month

Stay connected with radically independent journalism

Also from 1843 magazine

HEALTH

The loneliness of the long-distance abortion-seeker

Driving hundreds of miles for an abortion exacts an emotional toll

From the archive

PRANKS

A history of hoaxes

April fools used to make us laugh. Then came fake news

AWARDS

The Overseas Press Club of America recognises Nicolas Pelham

Read the prize-winning entry on Saudi Arabia’s crown prince

Also from The Economist

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Plot Twist is your weekly guide to to books, films, TV, albums and more. In an era of content overload, our editors will help you decide what to read, what to watch and what to listen to.

We’d like to hear from you

Share your feedback via the email address below.

Email [email protected]

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

This email has been sent to: krazypromo. If you'd like to update your details please click here. Replies to this email will not reach us. If you don't want to receive these updates anymore, please unsubscribe here.

Keep updated