The day we discovered our parents were Russian spies

[BlueMTexpat]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/discovered-our-parents-were-russian-spies-tim-alex-foley?CMP=fb_gu

For years Donald Heathfield, Tracey Foley and their two children lived the American dream. Then an FBI raid revealed the truth: they were agents of Putin’s Russia. Their sons tell their story.

Nearly six years since the FBI raid, I meet Alex in a cafe near the Kiev railway station in Moscow. He is now officially Alexander Vavilov; his brother is Timofei Vavilov, though many of their friends still use their old surname, Foley. Alex is 21, his still-boyish looks offset by a serious manner and businesslike clothes: black V-neck over a crisp white shirt. A gentle North American lilt and the careful aspiration of final consonants give him the unplaceable accent of those who have been schooled internationally – in Paris, Singapore and the US. These days, he speaks enough Russian to order lunch, but is by no means fluent. He is studying in a European city and is here to visit his parents; Tim works in finance in Asia. (In the interests of privacy, both brothers have asked me not to reveal details about their working lives.)

Since 2010, they have made a conscious decision to avoid the media. They have agreed to talk to me now, Alex explains, because they are fighting a legal battle to win back their Canadian citizenship, stripped from them six years ago. They believe it is unfair and illegal that they are expected to answer for the sins of their parents, and have decided to tell their story for the first time.
...
Alex and Tim’s father was born Andrei Olegovich Bezrukov, in Krasnoyarsk region, in the heart of Siberia. Since his return to Moscow in 2010, he has given just a handful of interviews to Russian media outlets, mainly concerning the more recent work he has done as a geopolitical analyst. Details of his past, or that of his wife, Elena Vavilova, are scarce.

Alex tells me what he knows about his parents’ recruitment, based on the little they have told him: “They got recruited into it together, as a couple. They were promising, young, smart people, they were asked if they wanted to help their country and they said yes. They went through years of training and preparing.”
,,,
The programme was the only one of its kind in international espionage. (Many assumed it had been stopped, until the 2010 FBI swoop.) Many intelligence agencies use agents operating without diplomatic cover; some have recruited second-generation immigrants already living abroad, but the Russians have been the only ones to train agents to pretend to be foreigners. Canada was a common place for the illegals to go, to build up their “legend” of being an ordinary western citizen before being deployed to target countries, often the US or Britain. During Soviet times, the illegals had two main functions: to aid in communications between embassy KGB officers and their US sources (an illegal would be less likely to be put under surveillance than a diplomat); and to be sleeper cells for a potential “special period” – a war between the US and the Soviet Union. The illegals could then spring into action.

Fascinating story and well worth the time it takes to read.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R. This is a fascinating story, and you have to feel sympathetic towards the kids.

Coming of age is hard enough without suddenly not knowing who you are. At least these two lost boys have each other. And this reveals a lot about Putin, with his background he wants to go back to the old USSR.

I visited there in the late '80s, went with my grandmother as part of a peace group. I was pretty dubious, but went to please my grandmother, and it turned out to be a trip of a lifetime and the Russians we met were excited to meet Americans. They wanted the same things Americans want, a nice life and a better one for their children. Having experienced the horrors of WWII on their own soil, those we met were vehemently anti war and have passed that on to their children. Gorbachev was instituting reforms which were certainly popular and it's a tragedy that Putin is dragging his country back to the dark days of the old USSR. This story certainly confirms the suspicions that he isn't an ally or a leader to be trusted. Very sad for the Russian people.

[BlueMTexpat]

2. I agree with your

assessment. And yes, the kids were the real victims in this.

[Igel]

3. "the illegals had two main functions"

While I wait for the outrage, I'll just .