Anna Chapman, the glamorous Russian spy who used her beauty to infiltrate British high society, has been appointed head of the Museum of Russian Intelligence. The museum showcases the achievements of Russia's long-running espionage operations against the West.
A Man Duped by Anna Chapman Speaks Out
A man who was deceived by Chapman more than 20 years ago says he still finds it hard to believe she was capable of espionage. Brit financier Nicholas Camilleri met her when she was a 23-year-old and has now shared his experience.
Speaking to The Sun, Camilleri said he still "struggles to comprehend that the glamorous woman who accompanied him on many nights on the town had the potential to get up to no good." He added: "I find it hard to believe she could be capable of being a spy. She wasn’t doing that when she was in London with me. People were enamoured with her. She knew what she was doing — she was a social climber."
Her Early Days in the UK
Chapman arrived in the UK as a 20-year-old student in 2001, meeting Brighton DJ Marcus Read, who she had met earlier that year in Zimbabwe. Read recalled: "At the end of the night this girl walked by, wearing a white hoodie. I could see a little cute face poking through. We kind of caught eyes and I ushered her over. She was highly seductive."
After returning from Africa, she asked to visit him in London. Read noted: "The only thing that struck me was when she told me her dad was in the KGB." She soon met Alex Chapman, a Sony record label employee, dumped Read, moved in with Alex, and married him a year later. She left him after getting her British passport and began mixing with the elite at VIP clubs, where she persuaded Camilleri to hire her as his PA.
FBI Surveillance in the US
Chapman later moved to the US, where the FBI began daily surveillance. Ed Foley, the federal agent who led the surveillance team, said: "She was pretty uneventful during the day at first. Just a normal 28-year-old going shopping at the store, doing yoga. But at night it was a different story. She would get shuttled around in high-end limos, dressed to the nines, going to clubs that were VIP-only."
Foley added: "She was, in fact, quite literally in bed with some of the top Wall Street financiers, people who had influence in political circles, city planning, finance. She was very dangerous because she was mission-driven and did whatever it took with whomever it took to get whatever she needed for the betterment of the Russian intelligence service. Seduction is the oldest trick in the book, right? She knew exactly what she was doing."
Arrest and Aftermath
The FBI discovered Chapman was one of ten deep-cover spies for Russia. She was arrested and flown back to Moscow, while Russia returned four high-level operatives arrested for spying for the West, including double agent Sergei Skripal, who was later poisoned with Novichok in Salisbury in 2018.
Chapman became a celebrity in Russia, but Putin is believed to have distrusted other caught spies, leading to a string of mysterious deaths among those he considered traitors. Chapman, however, was appointed head of the Museum of Russian Intelligence last October. Her story is told in a new two-part Channel 4 documentary, Spy Next Door: The Anna Chapman Story.
