Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin's Secret War

by Sean Michael Wiswesser

Overview

Step into the covert world of Russian espionage with this revealing insider’s account of how the Russian Intelligence Services (RIS) operate across the globe. Drawing on years of CIA field experience, Sean M. Wiswesser exposes the tactics, tradecraft, and mindset of the RIS—making this a must-read for anyone fascinated by spies, sabotage, and the high-stakes intelligence war between Russia and the West.

Unmask the shadowy world of Russian espionage with this riveting exploration of the Russian Intelligence Services (RIS) and their global clandestine operations. With decades of experience as a CIA operations officer, author Sean M. Wiswesser takes readers deep into the heart of Maskirovka—the Russian art of denial, deception, and manipulation. Using historical examples and firsthand accounts, this book reveals the tactics employed by the three main services of Russia’s intelligence apparatus: the SVR, GRU, and FSB. Learn about the RIS’ use of double agents, surveillance, and “street work,” honeytraps, sabotage, active measures, assassinations, the RIS roles in the Russo-Ukraine War, and much more.

Wiswesser’s unparalleled expertise comes from years of sitting across from Russian intelligence officers, operating overseas, and using their own methods against them. As a member of the CIA’s expert cadre in the Directorate of Operations, he worked closely with the U.S. intelligence community and foreign allies, gaining a unique perspective on the RIS’ global reach. Now, he shares that knowledge in a candid, plain-speaking style designed to inform and galvanize readers from all walks of life.

This book is more than an exposé—it’s a toolkit for understanding and countering the RIS’ manipulative tactics. Wiswesser breaks down ten key elements of their tradecraft, offering invaluable insights to intelligence professionals, academics, business leaders, NGO workers, and private citizens alike. With a deep grounding in Russian language, culture, and intelligence traditions, he provides readers with the context they need to grasp the RIS’ methods and motivations.

Written for the general reader, this compelling account combines expert analysis with real-world stories, making it both accessible and deeply informative. Whether you’re a practitioner in the field or simply curious about the world of espionage, the author’s narrative will open your eyes to the global threat posed by Russian intelligence and equip you with the knowledge to recognize and resist their tactics. Prepare to be captivated, informed, and empowered.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682476017
Publisher:	Naval Institute Press
Publication date:	04/21/2026
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Sean M. Wiswesser has nearly thirty years of experience working as a national security professional with intelligence, foreign service, and defense organizations. As a senior operations officer with the CIA, he served on multiple overseas tours and many other deployments on temporary duty, including war-zone service. He was a chief of station and had multiple joint-duty assignments with intelligence community partners. Sean was a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in history and Russian & Slavic linguistics. He was awarded a Master of Strategic Studies in 2023 from the Air War College and received the Russia Integrated Deterrence Award.

Read an Excerpt

Excerpt from Chapter 6 of Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin's Secret War

Swallows, Kompromat, and Honey Traps

KGB “swallow” operations (lastochki, or ласточки), also known as “honey traps” (medoviye lovushki, or медовые ловушки) gained significant notoriety during the Cold War and have arguably become even more infamous in the years since. Russian intelligence services often refer to such operations more generally as “compromising material operations" (компроматные операции) as they describe in Russian the specific tactics employed, such as seduction, blackmail, or deception, all forms of what the Russians call “kompromat.” In the KGB, these operations fell into what they called the “moral-psychological approach,” which included catching a person in any activity that might compromise them. Vasili Mitrokhin, the KGB archivist who defected to the UK with his treasure trove of KGB operational history (later published in two books), recounts countless tails of such recruitments.16 Sexual traps were one method, although financial traps were also available for exploitation. Kompromat in Russian means any piece of information that can be used to coerce someone if it were to be revealed publicly.

The novel Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (later made into a film) tells the story of a young SVR operative who uses seduction and her brand of maskirovka to accomplish intelligence missions.17 Matthews, a former CIA case officer, filled his books with generally accurate depictions of tradecraft used by both Russian and Western intelligence services, particularly in “denied area” operations. While some of it is fictionalized, the book and its sequels offer a compelling and realistic overview of this decades-long RIS program. Matthews details the training of operatives and the Russian reliance on exploiting sexual relationships to undermine and recruit Western targets, including intelligence officers, diplomats, and businesspeople.

According to Matthews, who sadly passed away in 2021, the Soviet Union maintained a “sexpionage” school called “State School 4” in Kazan, located in the Russian region of Tatarstan, southeast of Moscow. This school reportedly trained female operatives to become “swallows.” While Matthews’ account is mentioned in a work of fiction, I have no reason to doubt its veracity, and many RIS officers who defected or worked for our services have commented to me that the RIS has operated such training schools throughout its history. Historically, the KGB and its sister services, such as the East German Stasi, effectively employed honey traps throughout the Cold War. Today, the FSB, SVR, and GRU continue to use these tactics, domestically and abroad, whenever opportunities arise.

Western intelligence officers –and diplomats—are routinely warned about and trained to counter potential swallow approaches. Despite this widespread awareness among Western intelligence agencies, foreign service personnel, diplomats, and even NGO workers operating in or near Russia, why do the FSB, SVR, and GRU persist in using sex- or intimacy-based approaches? The simple answer: because they still work.

One of the most skilled Cold War and Eastern bloc intelligence practitioners of these honey-trap operations was Markus Wolf, the former head of East Germany’s foreign intelligence service. Wolf earned the nickname “the man without a face” because Western intelligence services could not identify him for many years and they had no photograph of him. Following German reunification, he received amnesty for his espionage activities, a fortunate outcome for him, given his career was devoted to undermining the free and independent West Germany. Wolf later co-authored a memoir that provides an excellent account of his espionage career, including numerous honey trap cases. It remains a valuable resource for understanding these operations.18

The Lonetree Case, a Classic RIS Swallow

One of the most infamous and damaging cases of the KGB employing a swallow in an espionage operation involved U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Clayton Lonetree. Lonetree, who served at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow during the mid-1980s, was reportedly lonely and unsuited for the elite Marine Corps Embassy Security Guard program (commonly referred to as the MSG program). The fallout from his espionage reverberated for years. The case serves as a classic example of how the RIS employ sex- and intimacy-based operational approaches, a strategy they continue to use effectively against foreign targets.

In 1984, the KGB set out to assess the Marine Security Guard (MSG) detachment stationed in Moscow, probing multiple individuals for potential vulnerabilities. Lonetree, who struggled socially, appeared isolated, lonely, and inexperienced with women. The KGB targeted him by introducing Violetta Seina, a receptionist at the embassy. Over time, Seina cozied up to Lonetree, fostering a romantic and then sexual relationship. Although MSG’s are extensively trained to resist such approaches, Lonetree’s emotional state and possible undiagnosed mental health issues made him particularly vulnerable.

In the A&E television series Investigative Reports, Violetta Seina was interviewed about her role in what the show called a sexpionage operation. She claimed that Lonetree initially seemed unremarkable, “just another face,” but she admitted that she deliberately cultivated his trust and affection.19 Seina was likely a KGB cooptee, an individual compelled to collaborate, often under threat of losing their job or facing other reprisals from the service. It is also possible that she participated willingly, motivated by money or patriotism. Her background at the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages, a frequent recruiting ground for intelligence operatives, suggests prior grooming for such tasks. Whether she did so willingly or was extorted into working for the RIS, Seina may have done this repeatedly and only achieved success with Lonetree. Putin once announced himself publicly: “Russia has the best prostitutes in the world!”20 Violetta was quite possibly a professional in more than one sense.

At the time, conditions at the U.S. Embassy and the Marine MSG barracks in Moscow made the Marines susceptible to such approaches. Investigations and subsequent publicized reports revealed that Marines were routinely sneaking women into their barracks, disregarding security protocols. This widespread complacency undermined the unit’s integrity, paving the way for Lonetree’s compromise.21

Over time, Violetta introduced Lonetree to her “Uncle Sasha,” who was later identified as KGB officer Aleksey Yefimov. Claiming to be a concerned relative, Yefimov warned Lonetree that their relationship violated embassy rules and threatened his career and Violetta’s livelihood. Presenting himself as a problem solver, Yefimov coerced Lonetree into cooperating, initially requesting small details about the embassy’s layout and personnel. Gradually, Lonetree found himself “in the bag,” as intelligence officers describe such situations, feeling trapped and unable to resist further exploitation.

The extent of the damage caused by Lonetree’s espionage remains classified, though it is widely regarded as substantial. The incident was scrutinized by the intelligence community and Congress. The book, Circle of Treason (Naval Institute Press, 2012), by Sandra Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille highlights how the Lonetree case complicated the hunt for CIA mole Aldrich Ames, as it muddied assessments of how the KGB accessed sensitive information, and whether the case may be the explanation for compromises of other Russian cases later attributed to Ames.22 

Despite this betrayal, the Marine Corps MSG program recovered its reputation. The program implemented stricter protocols to prevent similar breaches, and Marines continue to serve honorably. Those who served with Lonetree and others who met him describe him as a profoundly remorseful individual. A former CIA officer (known to this author) who met Lonetree recalled encountering a broken young man who regretted his actions.

Violetta Seina, by contrast, showed little remorse. In Sexpionage, she attempted to downplay her role and rehabilitate her image, even as her mother condemned her actions during the documentary. Meanwhile, the KGB celebrated the operation as a triumph, reinforcing their continued reliance on swallow operations as a viable tactic in their intelligence arsenal.23

Editorial Reviews

"Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks is a fascinating story of Russian spycraft that details the double agents, honey traps, and murders that have marked Soviet and now Russian foreign policy for decades. Sean Wiswesser spent his CIA career studying, teaching, and confronting Russian spies all over the globe; in his book on Russian intelligence, he spills the beans on what Russian spies did and do, to challenge freedom and the West. Hard to put down, and harder to forget when falling asleep at night."—John Nagl, author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam

"Sean Wiswesser has written the rare book that pairs rigorous tradecraft insight with lived experience. Drawing on decades countering Russia’s services, he maps how espionage, disinformation, and corruption actually work, and how to blunt them. The Ukraine case study is especially clarifying, but it’s the human stories that stay with you. Essential reading for practitioners, policymakers, and citizens alike who want to understand (and perhaps resist) Putin’s secret war."—Jennifer Ewbank, former Deputy Director of CIA for Digital Innovation

"Sean Wiswesser’s personal reminiscences about encounters with Russian officers add authenticity to his narrative that is rare in books about Russian intelligence. His career as an operations officer lays a credible foundation for his interpretation and critique of Russian operations. Sean’s experiences allow him to give personal tribute to several Soviet and Russian defectors with whom he worked, introducing readers to otherwise unknown people who supported U.S. intelligence in the 1990s and 2000s."—Kevin Riehle, Lecturer in Intelligence and International Security, Brunel UniversityLondon


 

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