Unearthing Moscow's moles

摘要

How American sanctions might bite on Russian banks is a matter of great interest to the Kremlin. So Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, asked one of its undercover agents in New York to find out, prosecutors claim. Evgeny Buryakov was outwardly an executive at Vnesheconombank, a Russian state-owned financial agency. But in real life he was allegedly "Zhenya"-working with two Russian intelligence officers who doubled as diplomats, also in New York. Mr Buryakov's mission involved collecting economic intelligence and spotting potential sources. It has ended in disaster. On January 26th news broke of his arrest by the fbi. He faces trial and, if found guilty, up to 15 years in prison. His alleged colleagues have left America.