The Times: Russia Engaged Its Spy Network Abroad

Students, criminals and the poor are recruited.

The scale and scope of Russia's covert operations abroad have recently reached an unprecedented level, unseen since the height of the Cold War.

This is reported by the British newspaper The Times, citing Western officials and analysts.

Almost every week new facts emerge about Russian covert operations around the world. Russian special services, such as the FSB, the GRU and the SVR, which were once at enmity with each other, have united and are engaged in intensive recruitment of new agents, including students of states sympathetic to the policy of the Russian Federation, among which special attention is paid to citizens of Serbia and Bulgaria. In these countries, they try to attract representatives of the criminal world and the poor.

With the outbreak of the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the Main Intelligence Directorate significantly expanded its special operations unit. Its number has grown from approximately 500 in 2022 to 2,000 today.

Experts suggest that behind the intensification of covert operations may be Russia's search for vulnerabilities and potential levers of pressure that it could use in the event of a possible expansion of the conflict.

The Kremlin seeks to protect itself and create the prerequisites for conducting a hybrid war on many fronts. For example, NATO officials expressed concerns that Russia could mine important underwater infrastructure in European seas, including network cables and pipelines.

Conventional fishing and research vessels were used. Such activities of Russian special services cause serious concern in the West and among Russia's allies in anti-terrorist operations.

This could have a negative impact on countries' security cooperation.

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