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 ), also known as "honey traps" ( medoviye lovushki, or ) 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" ( ) 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.