Shaun Walker

And yeah, one of the younger brothers said to me that the moment he realized it was all true was when one of the people that met them at the airport and they introduced themselves as, you know, we're friends of your parents, we work with them.

And yeah, one of the younger brothers said to me that the moment he realized it was all true was when one of the people that met them at the airport and they introduced themselves as, you know, we're friends of your parents, we work with them.

And they showed the two brothers pictures of their parents in KGB uniforms, which had been taken just before they were sent off to Canada back in the late 1980s. And Alex said, you know, this was the moment where I realized it was all true. So they have this, I mean, unimaginable sort of family summit back in Moscow.

And they showed the two brothers pictures of their parents in KGB uniforms, which had been taken just before they were sent off to Canada back in the late 1980s. And Alex said, you know, this was the moment where I realized it was all true. So they have this, I mean, unimaginable sort of family summit back in Moscow.

And they showed the two brothers pictures of their parents in KGB uniforms, which had been taken just before they were sent off to Canada back in the late 1980s. And Alex said, you know, this was the moment where I realized it was all true. So they have this, I mean, unimaginable sort of family summit back in Moscow.

They meet grandparents they didn't know they had, or at least they thought they were living somewhere in remote Canada rather than in Siberia. They're taken to the Bolshoi Theatre. They have these long discussions with their parents about what on earth has just happened. And they're given Russian passports with new names. They can't even pronounce their names properly.

They meet grandparents they didn't know they had, or at least they thought they were living somewhere in remote Canada rather than in Siberia. They're taken to the Bolshoi Theatre. They have these long discussions with their parents about what on earth has just happened. And they're given Russian passports with new names. They can't even pronounce their names properly.

They meet grandparents they didn't know they had, or at least they thought they were living somewhere in remote Canada rather than in Siberia. They're taken to the Bolshoi Theatre. They have these long discussions with their parents about what on earth has just happened. And they're given Russian passports with new names. They can't even pronounce their names properly.

And yeah, it was meeting the two of them. It was actually back in 2016 when I wrote a story about them and their battle to have their Canadian citizenship restored. That was the sort of first impulse for me, this crazy twisted family story that sort of set me on this path of getting obsessed with the illegals over the years.

And yeah, it was meeting the two of them. It was actually back in 2016 when I wrote a story about them and their battle to have their Canadian citizenship restored. That was the sort of first impulse for me, this crazy twisted family story that sort of set me on this path of getting obsessed with the illegals over the years.

And yeah, it was meeting the two of them. It was actually back in 2016 when I wrote a story about them and their battle to have their Canadian citizenship restored. That was the sort of first impulse for me, this crazy twisted family story that sort of set me on this path of getting obsessed with the illegals over the years.

I spoke with Elena a couple of times a few years ago. We haven't been in touch a lot recently. I think context has changed a bit since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. I used to go to Russia very regularly. I'm now on a blacklist, so I can't visit.

I spoke with Elena a couple of times a few years ago. We haven't been in touch a lot recently. I think context has changed a bit since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. I used to go to Russia very regularly. I'm now on a blacklist, so I can't visit.

I spoke with Elena a couple of times a few years ago. We haven't been in touch a lot recently. I think context has changed a bit since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. I used to go to Russia very regularly. I'm now on a blacklist, so I can't visit.

But yeah, I mean, they were essentially, I mean, what's fascinating about them, so with earlier illegals who achieved an awful lot, they were often, as we discussed, sent to the gulag shop. Some of them were disgraced because they were caught. And despite having, you know, given years of their lives to this program, what you see with Andre and Jelena is sort of the opposite.

But yeah, I mean, they were essentially, I mean, what's fascinating about them, so with earlier illegals who achieved an awful lot, they were often, as we discussed, sent to the gulag shop. Some of them were disgraced because they were caught. And despite having, you know, given years of their lives to this program, what you see with Andre and Jelena is sort of the opposite.

But yeah, I mean, they were essentially, I mean, what's fascinating about them, so with earlier illegals who achieved an awful lot, they were often, as we discussed, sent to the gulag shop. Some of them were disgraced because they were caught. And despite having, you know, given years of their lives to this program, what you see with Andre and Jelena is sort of the opposite.

I mean, they definitely did a very impressive job to integrate so well and live many years undercover. But because of this defector, for 10 years, the FBI knew exactly what they were doing. So essentially, their value as espionage agents was pretty much zero. But that's slightly glossed over, or rather fully glossed over when it comes to the sort of modern Russian telling of their story.

I mean, they definitely did a very impressive job to integrate so well and live many years undercover. But because of this defector, for 10 years, the FBI knew exactly what they were doing. So essentially, their value as espionage agents was pretty much zero. But that's slightly glossed over, or rather fully glossed over when it comes to the sort of modern Russian telling of their story.

I mean, they definitely did a very impressive job to integrate so well and live many years undercover. But because of this defector, for 10 years, the FBI knew exactly what they were doing. So essentially, their value as espionage agents was pretty much zero. But that's slightly glossed over, or rather fully glossed over when it comes to the sort of modern Russian telling of their story.