SpyTalk

While serving as a military attache at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in 2014,  Alexander Vindman drove down to the Ukraine border on a secret spy mission determined to catch the Russians red-handed. 

It was a tense and, in retrospect, fateful time in U.S.-Russia relations.  Russian President Vladimir Putin, after annexing Crimea, was funnelling weapons and supplies to allied separatists in the eastern Donbas region. The Russians, of course, were denying they were doing anything of the sort. But Vindman, a decorated career Army officer (who was wounded in Iraq), was convinced they were lying. He just needed the proof.  

So, after pouring over road maps and looking for crossing points, he and a partner headed south, positioning themselves for hours on end at a stakeout spot close to the border. They were about to give up when they saw exactly what they were looking for headed their way: a huge Russian military convoy of troop transports,  infantry fighting vehicles and logistics trucks speeding down a two-lane road with their lights off. Vindman hopped into his car with a camera and followed the convoy.

ONE DAY IN 2005, WHEN I WAS A REPORTER FOR THE WASHINGTON POST, I was in the National Archives, researching a story th…

INTEL STICKS & CARROTS: It was painfully clear this week, if it wasn’t already, that the Trump administration is using intelligence the same way it is using tariffs, university grants, and weapons assistance: as a cruel lever to get its way.

The intelligence freeze the administration placed on Ukraine last week was lifted Tuesday, but only after the beleaguered country bent the knee to Trump. Given an offer they couldn’t refuse, Ukrainian officials agreed to a 30-day ceasefire in a meeting with National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. “The pause in military aid and intelligence to Ukraine was unnecessary and unjust, but I am relieved that it was brief,” Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said on X.

But there’s a price to be paid in blood and soil.

Shortly after 8 p.m. on the evening of Sept. 24, 2023, a young man in dark clothing hurled two Molotov cocktails over the guardrail fence in front of the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. and then promptly fled the scene.

Cuba’s president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, immediately branded the incident a “terrorist attack.”  President Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, condemned it and promised a “timely investigation.” But nearly 18 months later, an investigation by the Secret Service— which is responsible for protecting foreign embassies on American soil— appears to have gone nowhere. No arrests have been made and no suspects identified.

The Trump administration has reportedly pulled Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s pick of a retired Army officer to be one…

The long-bubbling suspicion that Donald Trump has long been in the pocket of Russian President Valdimir Pu…

INTEL FREEZE: CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that President Trump’s doubts about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s commitment to peace led the administration to cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but the move led many here and abroad to question something else: America’s commitment to its allies. “What the hell is happening to your country?” one bewildered Western diplomat who served in Russia asked The Atlantic’s Shane Harris.  A senior Trump official told The New York Times the plan was to pause intelligence sharing for a week or two to pressure Zelenskyy, but that was little comfort to Ukraine as overnight Thursday and Friday, Russia launched 67 missiles of various types and 194 drones in a widespread attack on Ukrainian power and gas facilities. Trump said he was “considering” imposing sanctions and tariffs on Russia in response.

“Cutting off intelligence support to our Ukrainian partners will cost lives,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, called the president’s decision “unforgivable.” On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was more circumspect, saying peace required “challenging decisions.” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a big supporter of U.S. aid for Ukraine, was silent.

The pause on intelligence sharing and the temporary suspension of weapons shipments came on the heels of the tempestuous Trump-Zelenskyy White House meeting last week. “Everything that came from the Defense Department has stopped,” Valeriy Kondratiuk, the former head of HUR, one of Ukraine’s intelligence services, told the Times. 

Ukraine worried that the next thing to go could be Elon Musk’s vital Starlink service. Thousands of Starlink terminals are employed on the battlefield, providing real-time access to drone footage and maintaining communication.

According to the Kyiv Post, the intelligence the United States shared with Ukraine was comprised mainly of information from U.S. satellites processed by the National Security Agency. A typical example was the location, size, equipment, and activity of columns of Russian combat vehicles on roads heading toward Kyiv at the outset of the war. 

Word came Friday that the Trump administration had stopped sharing unclassified satellite images with Ukraine.