Deep cover spies in Russia?

[Undesired Walrus]

With the events in the US, which I obviously don't have to explain, I wondered whether it was a given that the US has deep cover spies of their own in Russia, doing their spy business in Moscow. Would they be in other places, such as China?

Would such an action be illegal under international law?

 

[Bikewer]

I think that it's almost certain we have agents in these countries. We would be fools not to...
They are more likely residents who are being "handled" by CIA types in neighboring countries; that's the usual modus operandi.

 

[Ziggurat]

With the events in the US, which I obviously don't have to explain, I wondered whether it was a given that the US has deep cover spies of their own in Russia, doing their spy business in Moscow. Would they be in other places, such as China?

Would such an action be illegal under international law?

International law doesn't prohibit spying. Domestic laws do. The only role international law really has in regards to espionage is in protecting spies who have official cover (ie, if you're a diplomat and you get caught spying, you get expelled, not imprisoned).

 

[Puppycow]

I think that it's almost certain we have agents in these countries. We would be fools not to...

Actually, I think that we would be fools if we did have the same kind of operation as the Russians tried to use against us. I think that's what was being asked. Of course we gather intelligence. I hope that the methods we use are more effective, because I don't think these people got anything that was worth the risk they took.

They are more likely residents who are being "handled" by CIA types in neighboring countries; that's the usual modus operandi.

What sort of residents do you mean though? American citizens pretending to be locals? Or actual locals in sensitive positions who we bribe for information? Most information we can figure out by satellites and safer means of intelligence gathering, such as intercepting and decoding coded transmissions.