41. Putin’s Minions: How Russia Spies (Ep 1)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.6 • 732 Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What do a fading seaside hotel, a self-proclaimed Q, and an eyelash champion have in common? They're all part of a bizarre Russian spy ring operating in the UK. But beneath the absurdity lies a serious threat. What were these "Minions" really up to? And how close did they come to compromising Western security? This is the story of a group of Bulgarians, directed from Moscow, who engaged in a series of increasingly audacious espionage operations across Europe. From tracking journalists to plotting kidnappings and deploying high-tech spy gear, their activities reveal the Kremlin's relentless pursuit of its enemies. Join Gordon and David as they delve into the darkly comic yet deeply concerning world of modern Russian espionage. ------------------- Order a signed edition of David's latest book, The Seventh Floor, via this link. Pre-order a signed edition of Gordon's latest book, The Spy in the Archive, via this link. ------------------- Get our exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ www.nordvpn.com/restisclassified Exclusive INCOGNI Deal: To get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan, go to https://incogni.com/restisclassified It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! Email: [email protected] Twitter: @triclassified Assistant Producer: Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Senior Producer: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Minions.
0:01.0	Minions have been on this planet far longer than we have.
0:12.0	They go by many names, Dave, Carl, Paul, Mike.
0:16.0	They're all different, but they all share the same goal, to serve the most despicable master they could find,
0:22.6	making their master happy was the tribe's very reason for existence. That's not to say, though,
0:28.2	that they didn't have other passions. Well, welcome to the rest is classified. I'm David
0:35.6	McCloskey. And I'm Gordon Carrera. And dear listeners,
0:38.8	that is a reading from the opening of the wonderfully iconic, culturally significant film,
0:48.4	The Minions, delivered to all of us in 2015. And Gordon, why in the world did you include a Minions quote to lead off these episodes?
0:58.6	Purely because I wanted you to read it.
1:01.0	I've just learned that you've just spent the last few days doing research for this pod by watching Minions films, which I think is true dedication to the craft of our podcast. That's right. And
1:12.5	listeners should be aware that although the next couple episodes that we are going to do
1:18.2	are really about Spycraft and not about the minions, I have exclusively binged the Despicable Me
1:25.0	franchise, the Minions films. I've gone deep into fan wikis on the minions.
1:31.0	So Gordon will handle the spycraft and I will handle the cultural references, as it were.
1:35.9	Spoken like a true former CIA officer. Right. You're going to put up it. Well, there is a reason why we've started with the
1:41.8	millions. There is. And I will have my revenge for you making me read that quote, by the way. I look forward to it. Yes. What we're actually doing this
1:47.7	week, other than talking about the minions, is we're telling the pretty wild story of a group
1:52.4	of Bulgarians who were found guilty of spying for Russia in Britain. Now, it's been in the news in Britain
1:58.6	here recently, but I think it does make for a
2:00.9	particularly interesting case for anyone out there who is interested in understanding how
2:05.8	Russia spies these days and the kinds of people it uses and the wild things they get up to.
	...

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