Editorial slang
“He is a neighbour” (“on sosedskiy” in Russian) – a delicate phrase from the Soviet times. Apart from obvious meaning it was used in journalistic circles to describe a KGB officer working in a foreign bureau of a Soviet medium under cover. I have been working as a foreign journalist since 2007 and never knew the term, an older colleague just mentioned it. I never heard of the same practice either – there are so many other covers for intelligent services nowadays. But my knowledge is obviously limited.
Agents of the military intelligent service under similar cover had a definiton, too (the service is called “GRU”). I would never guess what it was but there is actually some logic in it. Let’s see if anybody who reads it can suggest something.
