26 h. ago The Illegals by Shaun Walker review – gripping true stories of spies who lived deep undercover

An eye-opening account of the old Soviet tactic of embedding secret agents where you’d least expect themOne of the best series of the golden age of TV drama, The Americans (2013-2018), centred on a pair of Russian sleeper agents operating in suburban Washington DC during the height of the cold war. By day they seemed to be a boring married American couple; by night they set honey traps, sabotaged facilities, recruited traitors and assassinated enemies.That story was based in part on the real-life pair of “illegals” – as spies living under deep cover in civil society are called – Elena Vavilova and Andrey Bezrukov, who pretended to be Canadians living in Cambridge, Massachussetts, until their arrest and deportation in 2010. In reality, they weren’t so successful: owing to the turning of another Soviet agent, they were closely monitored by the FBI for years and never managed anything nefarious enough to make it worth charging them with espionage. Con...

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3 d. ago Sabotage and secret identities: Russia’s spy network – podcast

Shaun Walker reports on the history of Russia’s ‘Illegals’ programme and what it looks like todayShaun Walker is the Guardian’s central and eastern Europe correspondent and author of The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West.He tells Helen Pidd about the history of Russia’s ‘Illegals’ programme, and how Russian intelligence operates in western countries today. Continue reading...

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9 d. ago Arne Slot 'turned down' chance to sign Man Utd star last summer for one reason

Arne Slot was keen to sign a deep-lying midfield player ahead of his first season as Liverpool head coach but the club turned down the chance to buy a Manchester United target

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1 week ago Netflix's true crime drama with 'impressive' Rotten Tomatoes score to leave site in days

Netflix's Hatton Garden is a gripping true crime drama based on the real life story and fans have just days left to watch it

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1 week ago Oasis fans 'find band's best performance' – but don't expect it to be on tour

Oasis fans heading to see the group later this summer may be surprised to hear one of their 'best' live songs will likely not feature, as fans consider whether the deep cut will be performed

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1 week ago Donal MacIntyre’s UK Killer Evidence Returns to TRUE CRIME with Gripping New Cases

From hidden clues in the woods to secrets buried in the criminal underworld, Donal MacIntyre’s UK Killer Evidence returns this May with a brand-new season on TRUE CRIME – always intriguing, always true.

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2 w. ago The Illegals by Shaun Walker review – Russian spies hiding in plain sight

The strange stories of the agents who lived apparently normal lives in the west as part of Soviet espionage programmes make compelling readingOne muggy afternoon in June 2010, Don Heathfield and his wife, Ann, were relaxing over a bottle of champagne with their two sons, Tim and Alex, when they heard a loud knocking at the door. The family was celebrating Tim’s 20th birthday at their comfortable home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after lunch in a restaurant. Tim’s mother went to answer the door, calling out as she did so that some of his friends must have arrived to wish him a happy birthday. Instead she found a group of men dressed in black waiting on the doorstep. Bellowing “FBI”, they barged their way into the house and handcuffed Ann and her husband, before marching them outside and driving them away.Alex assumed that there had been a terrible mistake; his parents were much too boring to warrant such a dramatic arrest. But there was no mistake. His parents were not Don Heathfield...

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3 w. ago Colossal squid is seen live in the deep sea for the first time EVER

The stunning 4K video film, captured in the deep sea by California's Schmidt Ocean Institute, shows the rare creature's transparent body and eight pink tentacles.

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