For more than a century, Soviet and Russian spymasters have poured enormous resources into the training and deployment of deep-cover spies known as “illegals.” These agents live behind enemy lines for years, sometimes even decades, to establish elaborate false identities.

In a riveting new book entitled The Illegals, longtime foreign correspondent Shaun Walker traces the evolution of the KGB’s most secretive spy network from its Bolshevik beginnings to a series of spectacular operational failures under Vladimir Putin. Walker’s book is based on years of investigative reporting, archival research across more than a dozen countries, and hundreds of hours of interviews, including with undercover veterans of Soviet-era and Russian intelligence operations.

Join the Carnegie Endowment’s Russia and Eurasia Program for a conversation between Shaun Walker and David Hoffman, the Washington Post’s former foreign editor and Moscow bureau chief as well as the author of several books, including The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal. They will delve into the clandestine world of Russia’s sleeper agents and what this secret history reveals about the enduring ambitions and risk appetite of Putin’s security apparatus.

Like and subscribe to our channel: https://bit.ly/38sljlH

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace generates strategic ideas and independent analysis, supports diplomacy, and trains the next generation of international scholar-practitioners to help countries and institutions take on the most difficult global problems and advance peace.

Visit our website: https://carnegieendowment.org/
Follow us on X: https://x.com/CarnegieEndow
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carnegieendow/