What the shadow war in Ukraine might say about a possible Russian invasion

There’s a phrase used half in jest by the people in Ukraine’s security services to describe potential Russian sleeper agents, political agitators and hired guns.

They’re called “canned people.”

Few are laughing about it today as the embattled eastern European country faces a growing wave of false bomb threats at metro stations in the capital Kyiv and at schools across the country, along with shadowy plots to attack critical infrastructure — some allegedly involving Russian organized crime gangs.

These “canned people” are so called because they’re allegedly bought and paid for by the Russian intelligence services — primarily the Federal Security Service (FSB) — and then kept on the shelf