MOSCOW RULES

MOSCOW RULES


A roughly described set of TRADECRAFT rules developed during the Cold War by Western Agencies working in the Soviet Union. The KGB had some of the most professional and highly-trained surveillance personnel anywhere and this led to the need for the 'Rules.' Broadly speaking these rules include such things as;

Never set patterns - any pattern, whether it be method of travel, time of same or routes can be exploited by a hostile service.


Choose sites well; is it a Hotel? - pick one with plenty of exits and entrances, one that is near public transport and neither too ostentatious nor shabby. A DLB? - pick one that doesn't require you to go to unusual places to fill or empty. If you are driving a hire car, using the local bus station toilets for a DLB might seem odd. If you don't swim every day, the local public pool might not be for you.


Trust no-body.


No-body!; if Klaus the Train Guard is your way out across the border, make sure you have another way across. Klaus might not be the person you think he is.


Never carry compromising material unless you have to. A Minox spy camera makes a nice paperweight, but a bog-standard Nikon round your neck or the camera on your phone make you a tourist, not a spy (Make sure to have plenty of 'innocuous' Holiday snaps - Intelligence Agencies these days can fit several devices within a 'standard' mobile including a transmitter to relay the imagery straight to a secure unit - and not on the camera's hard drive where it can be discovered.)


Don't stop to tie your laces for that sneaky look back; use 'SURVEILLANCE TRAPS' where possible.


Iv'e seen that face before; in a built-up area if you see the same person more than twice, chances are they are a follow. Don't believe the spy films where hundreds of slick operatives seamlessly merge into the background to catch the spy - even the best-funded Agency may only have four or five people available at the time you showed up. Even the best PAVEMENT ARTIST can only change hats and coats so many times and the girl on the motorbike will start to stand out extremely quickly.


If you suspect you are being followed - you are. However, there are ways to establish this without signalling your awareness to the team following you/walking in front of you. Going round three sides of a block to force the follower to do the same might well expose them, but it exposes you; it's un-natural.
So be natural. You are a visiting student, a tourist; do student work, visit institutions and fill a few notebooks with vital research. Leave your card with lecturers and reception staff. On holiday? - dress like it then. Timberland boots are fine for Canada, but would you really wear a pair in Belgrade?. Be seen to enjoy yourself; selfies and sunshine.


No Plan Survives First Contact With The Enemy; this is a Mantra taught by the British Forces and it is golden. All those hours in recconnaissance, all the plan 'B's, all the 'Actions On' will get you through.


Reconnawhatnow? - Another Mantra; Time Spent On Reconnaissance Is Rarely Wasted. Check out the area of operations first. Visit Libraries at home, look on the Net. They speak French in Switzerland, right?. What if it's a German-speaking Canton?. Sitting naturally in Iraq? - one leg across the knee? - show the sole of your shoe to an Arab and he'll be outraged. Don't touch food or other people with the left hand in the Middle East, nor wave down a cab with the left. It's an insult. In Turkey?, hands in trouser pockets? - insult. Spend time covering cultural differences, public transport, local cuisine and when it's acceptable to ask for western food. Politely refusing a sheeps eyeball might just sour a deal and erode a working relationship built over generations with a local tribe.


If compromised, stick to the cover story. They know you are an operator, but why give it to them? - keep the details of your cover foremost in your mind. Ask for your National Embassy or Consulate. Be indignant; they have the wrong person. Fall back on the details; ask them to check your visit to the local University or the barman at that place you got tipsy in the other night. You need to be pragmatic; either they'll release you to keep a discrete watch or they'll keep at you. If its a Banana republic or North Korea you may have to reconsider things. None of us would willingly betray our country, but if I had a blowtorch by my genitals I'd sing like a canary. If torture or psychological stress is unpalatable, consider the timing and make a limited release. Do NOT spill everything; give them some innocuous details - perhaps you were approached in a bar at home and offered money to pick up a package?, perhaps you aren't a spy, but merely a common smuggler, a petty crook?. (Five years in a Turkish prison beats a firing squad). Allow them the glory here; if the interrogator gets a confession, whatever the value of it, he/she looks good for their superior. Don't underestimate the power of this - it might help you and they may want to believe this to draw a line under the case. You hope. If there is no way out, if you are facing death or torture and you judge you are close to snapping - admit to your role. Make sure this is no less than two or three days after capture. Forget the idiots who tell you they can withstand interrogation indefinitely; no-one can. Even elite forces are trained to hold out for a minimum of 48hrs, by which time the information they have is operationally useless. If you are working with professionals, they will know you are 'in the bag' and make their own arrangements accordingly.