Russia’s spy inferiority complex

Apparently, the Russian media doesn’t like the implications of the lopsided numbers in today’s spy exchange: If it was a football match, the score would be 10:4 in Russia’s favour. But numbers do not tell the whole story. As a radio presenter in Moscow put it: "This means that one of their spies is worth ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

Apparently, the Russian media doesn't like the implications of the lopsided numbers in today's spy exchange:

Apparently, the Russian media doesn’t like the implications of the lopsided numbers in today’s spy exchange:

If it was a football match, the score would be 10:4 in Russia’s favour.

But numbers do not tell the whole story. As a radio presenter in Moscow put it: "This means that one of their spies is worth two and a half of ours."

Indeed, while the 10 Russian "illegals," who never seemed to get closer to the U.S. centers of power than attending a few think tank luncheons and technically never actually committed espionage, the four spies the Russian turned over include former members of the KGB, SVR, GRU, and a prominent nuclear scientist. It certainly seems like a pretty good deal from Washington’s point of view. 

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

Tag: Russia

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