Episode 11 - Michael Weiss, a CIA polymath (according to Darth)

In the bunker with Darth Putin

Darth and I welcome Michael Weiss, an investigative journalist renowned for his extensive coverage of the wars in Syria and Ukraine, as well as his publications on Russian espionage and disinformation. Amid a fair amount of jokes and sarcasm, we delve into discussions about the GRU and how its spy culture contrasts with that of the SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service.

We look at some of the GRU’s “successful” operations, as Michael is currently writing a book about this infamous institution. Interestingly, some of the most talented individuals who served in the GRU during its inception in the 1920s-1930s, were foreigners rather than Russians.

My favorite takeaways:

• How the appeasement of Russia failed: attempts by the Obama and early Biden's administrations to restart relations and "tickle Putin's tummy" were fruitless.
• Michael nearly developed a PTSD from dealing with the divided Syrian opposition, which had a hard time uniting against the common enemy. I can relate to this, since there are similar conflicts among the Belarusian democratic groups in exile.
• Do you remember the footage of Russian soldiers shipping the looted fridges and other stuff from Ukraine via Belarus post offices? The footage of that circus was actually leaked to the public by the Belarusian state services, so there is a bit of the Fifth column in the Belarusian power vertical.

Yours truly,

Katie from Minsk