Russia’s Spies Can’t Find Work — Or Kindergartens for Their Kids

Since being kicked out of most Western countries from diplomatic missions, the spies are restless

B Kean
3 min readNov 7, 2023
Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

They have returned to Russia, being asked to leave by the countries they were assigned as “cultural attaches” in Europe and other parts of the world. They were spies. The consulates and embassies of every country in the world deploy these smooth-talking, cultured “nothing men and women” to be the eyes and ears on the ground.

Having spent decades in their profession keeping tabs and looking for possible “useful idiots,” like Trump and a handful of other traitors in his administration, one of their most extraordinary talents was to be unnoticeable — the fly on the wall. When the war started, many “official” spies, the ones registered as cultural attaches and administrative workers in the diplomatic missions, were informed that they had to leave.

These “careerists” — Putin worked similarly before the collapse of the Soviet Union — reside in the host countries, usually with their families. Their work, while technically considered spy work, is quite obviously visible to most counter-espionage forces. They surprise few, and a lot of their work is focused on keeping tabs on the potential for exploiting weaknesses like the “idiots.”

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B Kean

The past holds the answers to today’s problems. “Be curious, not judgmental,” at least until you have all the facts. Think and stop watching cable news.