The Daily Populous

Tuesday June 6th, 2023 morning edition

image for Robert Hanssen, former FBI agent convicted of spying for Russia, dead at 79

Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who was one of the most damaging spies in American history, was found dead in his prison cell Monday morning, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Hanssen, 79, was arrested in 2001 and pleaded guilty to selling highly classified material to the Soviet Union and later Russia.

Hanssen was found unresponsive and staff immediately initiated life-saving measures, Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Kristie Breshears said in a statement.

Three years after he was hired by the FBI, Hanssen approached the Soviets and began spying in 1979 for the KGB and its successor, the SVR.

He was joining the FBI to do that — not to spy against the U.S., but to go in and hunt spies.".

Hanssen was arrested after making a dead drop in a Virginia park in 2001 after the FBI had been secretly monitoring him for months. »

Tennessee woman paid to hire a hitman to kill the wife of her dating website match

Authored by abcnews.go.com

A Tennessee woman allegedly paid to hire a hitman to kill the wife of a man she met on a dating site, according to a criminal complaint.

Melody Sasser was arrested May 18 and is being held in custody on probable cause that she allegedly attempted murder for hire.

On May 18, Sasser was arrested on probable cause that she allegedly attempted to hire a hitman to commit murder. »

Exclusive: Ukraine has cultivated sabotage agents inside Russia and is giving them drones to stage attacks, sources say

Authored by edition.cnn.com

Ukraine has cultivated a network of agents and sympathizers inside Russia working to carry out acts of sabotage against Russian targets and has begun providing them with drones to stage attacks, multiple people familiar with US intelligence on the matter told CNN.

US officials believe these pro-Ukrainian agents inside Russia carried out a drone attack that targeted the Kremlin in early May by launching drones from within Russia rather than flying them from Ukraine into Moscow.

But US officials believe that Ukraine has developed sabotage cells inside Russia made up of a mix of pro-Ukrainian sympathizers and operatives well-trained in this kind of warfare. »