Rogue Russia: Agents of mayhem
The Slow Newscast
Alice Sandelson
4.6 • 894 Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Last October, the head of MI5 said Russia was on a mission to cause "sustained mayhem" on European streets. It might be hard to spot at first, but it is there in plain sight. This is the unpredictable, violent world of the modern Russian intelligence services
Reporter: Alexi Mostrous
Producer: Gary Marshall
Sound design: Dominic Delargy
Artwork: Lola Williams
Editor: Jasper Corbett
Slow Newscast Executive Producer: Matt Russell
To find out more about Tortoise:
Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists
Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content
Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Tortus |
| 0:05.7 | Hello, it's Claudia here and you're listening to the slow newscast from Tortus. |
| 0:13.7 | This week, a Cold War spy thriller. |
| 0:18.0 | Except it's Russia, not the Soviet Union. |
| 0:21.5 | It's the 2020s, not the 1980s, |
| 0:24.6 | and as my colleagues Alexei Mostris and Gary Marshall reveal, |
| 0:29.2 | the hits are not all that subtle. |
| 0:32.1 | This is the unpredictable, violent world |
| 0:35.0 | of the modern Russian intelligence services. |
| 0:38.6 | Over to Alexi. |
| 0:44.5 | If I have a telephone call at night, I understand that something happened, something awful happened. |
| 0:53.5 | It's the middle of the night in the Latvian capital, Uyghur. |
| 0:57.0 | Solvita Vibar is woken by a phone call. |
| 1:01.0 | The person on the other end has some alarming news. |
| 1:04.0 | It's about the museum of occupation, a museum that Solvita runs. |
| 1:09.0 | It's one of Latvia's most famous institutions. |
| 1:12.6 | To many in the country, the museum is a symbol of resistance |
| 1:16.6 | to the Soviet Union and to the Nazis. |
| 1:19.6 | And now Solvita is being told, |
| 1:22.6 | Come quickly, there's trouble. |
| 1:24.6 | And fire in a museum, this is the most awful thing in the museum. |
| 1:32.3 | And I was shocked, but I immediately ran to the museum. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Alice Sandelson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Alice Sandelson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

