The war in Ukraine has battered the reputation of Russian spies

Editor’s note (October 26th 2022): On October 24th Norway’s domestic security agency arrested a suspected Russian spy who—just as in the example we give below—was purporting to be a Brazilian migrant. The suspected Russian agent had been researching Arctic security at the University of Tromso, in Norway’s far north. He is said to have been operating under the alias “José Assis Giammaria” and came to the university with solid references from the University of Calgary, in Canada. His Norwegian colleagues told reporters he was “friendly”, “asked a lot of questions, including questions of personal nature,” and that he had a “funny accent”. His arrest comes days after Norway arrested another Russian on suspicion of flying drones or taking photographs in the country’s Arctic north. All three cases illustrate, as we explain below, the increasing risks that Russian agents are taking. This is why so many are being caught.