Headscratchers / Mile 22

• What was the 18 year old son of a powerful Russian general doing in a field SVR operation in the United States?
  • Evidently he wanted to join the family biz, and mommy pulled some strings. Never mind that he was part of a covert and heavily-armed Russian team operating illegally in the United States^note  Regular spies with official diplomatic cover are protected by international law and can only be deported if caught. Even those without official cover are usually granted some limited protection. That protection goes away if they are armed. Their bringing (or obtaining) weapons is a demonstration of hostile intent and legally an act of war and international laws say that US authorities would be completely justified to simply shoot them on the spot rather than try to apprehend them. She pulled strings to put him somewhere he shouldn’t have been under any circumstances, and when that got him killed, she leveraged her authority to orchestrate a major operation to kill the American team involved (in a legal response to an illegal operation on American soil) solely for personal revenge.