Search icon

News

29th Mar 2022

James Bond wannabe among 620 Russian spies unmasked in shocking move against Putin

Kieran Galpin

00-war crimes

Ukraine’s spy agency has released the names and addresses of 620 Russian FSB agents, including one spy with a particular passion for the James Bond franchise.

The Intelligence branch of Ukraine’s defence ministry posted a link to their social media accounts that claimed to lead users to a list of Federal Security Service (FSB) officers, which was formerly the KGB.

They wrote: “The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has obtained a list of Russian FSB officers involved in the criminal activities of the aggressor country in Europe.

“List of 620 FSB employees (name, place of work, registration address, passport data).”

One FSB agent featured on the extensive list has a Skype address that includes “jamesbond007.” This real-life spy is presumably a fan of the fictional espionage franchise, as another excerpt from his information pays tribute to Bond’s iconic Aston Martin with “DB9.”

It’s not yet clear how the intelligence officers obtained such a document – or if it is indeed accurate and official – but some entries even include SIM cards details and vehicle registration numbers.

Aric Toler, a researcher at investigative reporting group Bellingcat, said some of the names were from existing leaks. However, some of the newer entries don’t appear to be from preexisting documents.

“Going through some of these with spot-checks, and a lot of them are direct copy-pastes from different leaked databases,” he wrote on Twitter.

Releasing private information online is often referred to as doxing, which is usually used as a relation technique against celebrities and influencers. While it’s often frowned upon in such settings, given that it can open the victim up to potential danger and harassment, doxing is typically employed in times of conflict.

Such tactics were used following the Boston Marathon bombing, where a man was wrongly identified as a suspect, which inevitably led to his suicide.

Ironically, the term doxing became more mainstream after the involvement of the hacktivist group Anonymous. While the group usually doxx public figures, the Washington Post described the doxing of innocent people as “nightmarish.”

Related links: