How Russia's new elite hit squad was compromised by Google Translate(theins.press)
theins.press
How Russia's new elite hit squad was compromised by Google Translate
https://theins.press/en/inv/290235
6 comments
Several years ago German media ran a story where they were able to connect Google search queries to members of parliament by buying big data. Examples included someone looking for data on “dementia treatment” etc. But that wasn’t real-time, as I understand.
The investigative work here is great, the writing is absolutely terrible at times.
Other investigations presented quite good in video form https://www.youtube.com/@thechristofiles/videos
agreed, imagine what a Michael Lewis type writer could make of this story
It's certainly not the usual "investigative report" style I'd expect with Christo on the byline.
Perhaps it's an attempt at making the report less dry? I don't think it worked.
The unnecessary dramatization just feels a bit off:
>in the deadpan vocabulary of Russian intelligence, “legally deported.”
>But now the agents had failed to deliver, and one had been arrested. It was time for Alimov to take matters into his own hands.
>he had chosen the date revered by Russian spies and soldiers — Defender of the Fatherland Day — for his maiden undercover trip abroad
>the “main adversary,” as Russian intelligence jargon refers to the United States
Perhaps it's an attempt at making the report less dry? I don't think it worked.
The unnecessary dramatization just feels a bit off:
>in the deadpan vocabulary of Russian intelligence, “legally deported.”
>But now the agents had failed to deliver, and one had been arrested. It was time for Alimov to take matters into his own hands.
>he had chosen the date revered by Russian spies and soldiers — Defender of the Fatherland Day — for his maiden undercover trip abroad
>the “main adversary,” as Russian intelligence jargon refers to the United States
Edit: apparently his accomplice living in the U.S. was under FBI surveillance. “The use of Google Translate was not Durovic's only operational failure. He made two trips to Russia, in July and October 2024, attempting to disguise his destination by booking ostensible vacations to Turkey while continuing to Moscow on connecting flights under his real name. Each time he returned to the United States, he was questioned by FBI special agents who had access to his airline records. He flatly denied having visited Russia. The lies were transparent, and they compounded his legal exposure. The FBI, however, was content to wait — continuing to surveil him and read his virtual diary on Google Translate — before finally arresting him in March 2025.”