With Russia, Little Ever Really Changes

US Charges 11 in Russian Spy Case

By EVAN PEREZ

The Wall Street Journal -- JUNE 28, 2010, 4:47 P.M. ET

WASHINGTON—U.S. authorities charged 11 people Monday with being part of a Russian spy program to plant long-term undercover agents inside the U.S.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation alleged the Russian intelligence service known as the SVR provided extensive training, including in foreign languages and the use of codes and ciphers, to the alleged agents before dispatching them to the U.S. over the past decade.

Once inside the U.S., the alleged agents took on aliases and "deep cover" assignments to become Americanized in order to gather information about the U.S., and possibly recruit sources inside American "policy-making circles," an FBI affidavit filed in New York federal court alleged.

U.S. authorities arrested 10 of the 11 people in New York, Boston and northern Virginia in recent days.

The case grew from a years-long FBI investigation focused on Russian espionage capabilities in the U.S. since the breakup of the formidable spying operation of the former Soviet Union.

Write to Evan Perez at evan.perez@wsj.com

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