“Hero spies” go viral on the Internet

Adding a new dimension to the whole story about the antics of the "master spies” from the GRU, a funny cartoon about Petrov and Bashirov, based on a limerick that roamed the Internet a month ago is now going viral on the worldwide web. The underlying idea is simple - it is exactly these two characters of the “Skripal case” who are to blame for all the problems that the West has been grappling with on the Russian track. Besides, this is probably the first time since the appearance of the notorious “It’s Putin’s fault” poem in 2014, that a verse of the same “caliber” has graced the Runet. Well, the profession of an intelligence agent is by no means a comical one. Perhaps, with the exception of the ridiculous Austin Powers and a couple of other, equally successful parodies of the Bondiana, one can hardly recall any genuinely popular and positive comic spooks. However, it is none other than Western propaganda itself that has created the image of two globetrotting guys carrying out some of Putin’s most important assignments. It looks like we won’t be able to find out any time soon whether Petrov and Bashirov really had anything to do with the special services, or were simply unlucky enough to find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. We  must admit, however, that all this ridiculous PR campaign has actually proved beneficial for the Russian intelligence services with Petrov and Bashirov now taking cue from Sudoplatov, who blew up the Ukrainian nationalist Konovalets with a box of chocolates, and Mercader, who hacked Trotsky with an ice pick.

Moreover, the heroes of memes about spies are way more popular than their less known colleagues. And the case of Novichok, which stubbornly fails to lethally poison anyone, is actually beginning to add to Russia’s image with many people now saying that the Russians do not poison anyone to death, they just frighten, though very effectively. Moreover, the story of Pyotr Verzilov showed that Russian oppositionists would actually love to prove the fact of their “poisoning,” because this raises their status among their own kind and gives them a chance to spend a week or two in the comfort of Berlin’s famous Charité clinic. The cartoon that appeared last night on one of the Russian Telegram channels was filmed very professionally. Moreover, it has already appeared in amateur translation in Serbia and other countries. According to the channel, the cartoon was sent in by "grateful subscribers," and they are looking forward to get more coming in. And, with the political environment changing so fast, they certainly will. The question is, what will the elusive “spies” do now? After all, they have a lot of tasks on their hands waiting to be fulfilled. And will the notorious "spires" that became memes during the "Skripal case" make it into the new video?

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