Photo cover: ”Beware of female spies”. The text warns navy personnel to say nothing to “inquisitive women or prying men” concerning anything that would bear upon the work of the navy. Digital Publisher: PA, Temple University Libraries, Special Collection Research Center.

Essentially, it was what is now internationally called “Honey trapping,” the extraction of information involving the use of romantic or sexual relationships for personal, political (including state espionage), or financial purposes. The (usually) female perpetrator seeks to lure the target into a fake relationship (which may or may not involve physical contact) from which she can gather information or influence the target. Subsequently, with the appropriate capture of photographic material, the victim becomes an automatic target for blackmail and acts according to the instructions of the perpetrator or is “exposed.”

During the Cold War, Russian female agents known as “Mozhno girls” or “Mozhnos” were used by the USSR’s KGB to spy on foreign officials by seducing them. The name Mozhno comes from the Russian word “mozhno,” which means “allowed,” as these agents had the ability to violate rules prohibiting Russians from contact with foreigners. There were cases where the perpetrator married the target, establishing a permanent and trusted source of information.

In 1956, the KGB devised an elaborate plot to trap French ambassador Maurice Dejean, creating an artificial scandal with a supposed couple who were actually KGB agents. The KGB also targeted a military attache serving under Dejean, Colonel Louis Gibaud. Hidden microphones in Gibaud’s apartment revealed frequent arguments with his wife, and the KGB brought a series of attractive women into his path. He succumbed to one of them. Subsequently, three Soviet agents in political attire met Gibaud with the “incriminating” photos and told him he had two choices: cooperate or face disgrace. Gibaud chose a third way, suicide.

In 1968, the British ambassador to the USSR since 1956, Jeffrey Harrison, had a brief affair with a Russian maid working at the British Embassy. Concerns arose about the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, and incriminating photos taken by the KGB were sent. Immediately, Harrison informed the Foreign Office of his mistake, and he was promptly recalled to Britain. Another one example is the case of the Marine Security Guard (MSG) Clayton Lonetree, a security member at the summit of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, who was seduced by a Russian woman who introduced herself as «Violetta Seina». Lonetree began a relationship with the KGB agent, despite the strict non-fraternization policy to all MSGs, especially in Moscow. After she introduced him to her «Uncle Sasha», Lonetree soon convinced to turn over confidential information and documents  including embassy floor plans and burning bags with top secret cables, while being at Vienna’s Embassy. Finally, he confessed on 14 December of 1986 at the local CIA Station chief and sentenced to 30 years of prison which he served nine.

Similar hundreds of cases occurred during the Cold War, with more significant ones known to date, including the case of British MP Anthony Courtney, U.S. Army Colonel James R. Holbroke, Canadian diplomat Roy Guindon, Indonesian President Sukarno, etc.

The Washington Post reported in 1987 that «most Westerners who have spent enough time in Moscow have their favorite story of an attempt at seduction or seduction by a ‘swallow’ (as the women of the KGB were called).»

Bibliography

R.Deacon, «Spyclopedia: The Comprehensive Handbook of Espionage», W.Morrow, New York, 1987.

P. Knightly, The History of Honey Trap. Five lessons for would-be James Bonds and Bond Girls-  and the men and women who would resist them, Foreign Policy, 12 March 2010.

«Caught in a Honeypot-Marine Clayton Lonetree Betrays his country», ADST, 6 May 2014.