The World Kept Turning While I Slept In
A roundup of stories I didn't get to while on vacation: Prigozhin, Sarkozy, and Victor in Real Life
VESPERS! Let’s welcome Fall together on September 21 at noon eastern time (18:00 Europe). We’ve got so much to catch up on! Indictments, spies, a murder, and more!
Plus, there have been several developments related to topics covered in my Foreign Influence Operations course, which we’ll discuss. Not yet a paid subscriber? What are you waiting for?
ALEX’S WEEKLY RANT
I took a little time off in August and for some damn reason, the world kept turning and all kinds of stories I would normally have commented on happened while I was sleeping in. As such, here is a roundup of a few stories I missed, but that are still worth discussing now with some added context.
Yevgeny Prigozhin Got His Just Desserts
They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but Vladimir Putin delivered his smokin’ hot. On August 23, two months to the day after Prigozhin’s halted mutiny, his private jet exploded in the air between St. Petersburg and Moscow. For background on Prigozhin and his attempted coup, read this Rant!, which is still one of the best headlines I’ve ever written:
Was the airplane shot down by a missile? Blown up through onboard sabotage? We still don’t know.
But in the aftermath, Prigozhin’s assets, and those of his Wagner Group, are being divvied up, mostly among different factions of the Russian military and security services (or nominally private organizations with links to the security services). Meanwhile, Wagner mercenaries are being told to find new jobs. I am sure there are many opportunities. Imagine their resumes:
Past job: murderer
Skills: efficient with a sledgehammer
Hobbies: I make a great cheese soufflé!
But no one has reported the most important detail of all: Who will get possession of Prigozhin’s head and facial wig collection?
Nor has anyone reported on who will get Prigozhin’s yacht, St. Vitamin. Yep, for all his bitching and moaning about corruption in the military (which led to his ultimately fatal war of words with Russia’s defense minister and top general), Prigozhin was good at being corrupt, too. Although, to be fair, St. Vitamin is pretty tiny compared to most oligarch yachts. It is 123 feet long (37 meters) and worth “only” about $3 million.
I’m not sure where the yacht is. The US sanctioned St. Vitamin in 2019, and its tracker hasn’t pinged its location since. Its last known location was near Novorossiysk, north of Sochi.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Becomes Latest Putin Apologist
Sarkozy recently voiced some striking pro-Putin views during an interview to promote his memoir, ticking off Kremlin talking points one after the other:
Crimea should be Russian. Check!
Ukraine should not join the EU or NATO and should be neutral. Check!
Europe needs Russia. Check!
America is not a partner for Europe. Check!
Since I always feel like I am nagging when I say this, I’ll instead place here the money quote from the NYT article about this, from Nicole Bacharan, a political scientist at Sciences Po:
“Gaullist equidistance between the United States and Russia is an old story, but what Sarkozy said was shocking. We are at war and democracies stand with Ukraine, while the autocracies of the world are with Mr. Putin.”
There is no evidence (yet) that Sarkozy is being paid by Russia, and it may be his sympathies toward Putin are genuine. However, we do know Russia uses money to influence and co-opt high-level politicians and activists to help promote policies and messages that are beneficial to Russia. I’ve written extensively about it, including in this previous Rant!
From former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder working for Russian state-owned energy companies for lucrative payouts to former French Prime Minister François Fillon, who held a lucrative seat on the board of Russia’s largest petrochemical company, to former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, who danced with Putin at her wedding and just this week announced she is moving to Russia (with her ponies! which were flown to St. Petersburg by Russian military transport) to run a think tank there, we’ve seen an exhausting parade of Western politicians allowing themselves to fall into the Russian corruption trap, cheerleading for Putin while quietly collecting a nice check.
I’ve covered at length how and why this happens (often—usually—involving Russian intelligence services) in my Foreign Influence Operations course. Seriously, sign up.
Victor in Trouble in Real Life
Last month, the US intelligence community declassified a report about how Russia is laundering propaganda and disinformation through Westerners, particularly politicians, activists, and other influential individuals. Anyone who follows me will not be surprised by this, but still, it is important that information about what Russia is doing, how they are doing it, and why they are doing it is spread far and wide (and repeated ad nauseam, since repetition is—as we know—how people finally start latching on to ideas and paying attention to them).
Still, the report to me was a nonfiction (and way less funny) version of Victor in Trouble, and while I hate to brag about being right, well...
THE WEEK’S LINKS
A roundup of stories you should be reading
RUSSIA
Austrian spymaster warns of Russian ties as far right claws back support (FT)
Putin Wants His Hit Man Back (WSJ)
US, UK accuse 11 Russians of running cybercrime ring that attacked hospitals around the world (NBCNews)
Alex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. She writes and teaches about terrorism, disinformation / covert influence, and oligarch yachts. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Reductress, Funny or Die, POLITICO, The Center for Public Integrity, and other publications. She has spoken to the BBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, France24, and numerous other media outlets. She was also invited once to speak at Harvard, which she now tells everyone within the first ten seconds of meeting them. She is the author of the Victor Caro series, satirical novels about the CIA. Before joining the CIA, Alex was a journalist, covering Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy. She reported on issues related to national security, intelligence, and homeland security. Did she mention she was invited to speak at Harvard?
The link below was demonstrative of Putin’s ability to tap into the American psyche.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y96ju_nOuAc
It reminds me of people who bring a Tiger into their home as a pet, then are astonished when one day it eats their children. Putin knows well Americans gullibility and their penchant for openness and inclusiveness. So why not cozy up to an “ex” KGB killer? And who better to use as useful idiots than the Hollywood crowd who Americans idolize? If Goldie Hawn likes him can he be that bad? A Tiger can change its stripes, right? Just ask the Ukrainians.