This is a conversation with the three esteemed authors of a paper
entitled “Russian Sabotage in the Gig-Economy Era”, written by Daniela
Richterova, Elena Grossfeld, Magda Long and Patrick Bury. I’m delighted
to be joined by three of them today.
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We are experiencing the most intense era of sabotage since the Second
World War in Western countries. Russian operations have now reached
unprecedented levels. It seems the main aim is to increase the costs of
supporting Ukraine, while at the same time slowing the delivery of
military supplies. Russian operations are increasingly organised around
‘gig-economy’ principles. The dangers are mounting from operations that
have an element of plausible deniability, that can scale, while causing
significant damage and sowing terror.
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LINKS:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03071847.2024.2401232
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/03071847.2024.2401232?needAccess=true
https://news.sky.com/story/mi6-and-cia-warn-of-reckless-campaign-of-sabotage-across-europe-being-waged-by-russia-13210838
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8e15yr1gwo
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BIOGRAPHIES:
Daniela Richterova is Associate Professor in Intelligence Studies at the
Department of War Studies, King’s College London. She is Director of
the MA in Intelligence and International Security and Co-director of the
King’s Centre for the Study of Intelligence. She is the author of the
forthcoming monograph Watching the Jackals: Prague’s Covert Liaisons
with Cold War Terrorists and Revolutionaries (Georgetown University
Press, January 2025).
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/dr-daniela-richterova
https://x.com/drichterova?lang=en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-daniela-richterova-219a292b/
https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/daniela.richterova
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Elena Grossfeld is a PhD candidate at the Department of War Studies,
King’s College London, researching intelligence organisations, their
strategic culture and technologies. Her recent publications include
‘Russia’s Declining Satellite Reconnaissance Capabilities and its
Implications for Security and International Stability’, an examination
of the implications of declining Russia’s space capabilities for the war
in Ukraine and global stability.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/elena-grossfeld
https://kcsi.uk/members/elena-grossfeld
https://x.com/kloosha
https://rusi.org/people/grossfeld
https://foreignpolicy.com/author/elena-grossfeld/
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Magda Long is Visiting Research Fellow at the King’s Centre for the
Study of Intelligence at King’s College London. She has two decades of
combined work and academic experience in defence and security,
intelligence and risk management. Her research examines how states use
covert activities to pursue their foreign policy objectives and mitigate
national security threats, and as a tool in hybrid warfare.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/magda-long
https://kcsi.uk/members/dr-magda-long
https://x.com/magda_long?lang=en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/magda-long-97b9604/
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Patrick Bury is Reader in Warfare and Counterterrorism at the University
of Bath. A UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, he has over 20 years’ experience
in the security sector as a practitioner, analyst and scholar.
https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/patrick-bury
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-bury-50b43838/
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CHAPTERS:
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Save Ukraine
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Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas
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UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in
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Come Back Alive
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