#6596
#14 - JRL 6596
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
December 11, 2002
MOSCOW AND OTTAWA SWAPPED SPIES
The Foreign Intelligence Service looks at diplomats at home and abroad
Author: Igor Korotchenko
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
WHILE DEFENSE MINISTER SERGEI IVANOV SAYS THAT NATO EXPANSION DOESN'T POSE A THREAT TO RUSSIA, FSB DIRECTOR NIKOLAI PATRUSHEV FAVORS INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES USING DIPLOMATS AND TECHNICAL STAFF AT EMBASSIES OF NATO MEMBER STATES, ACCREDITED IN RUSSIA.
A chain of incessant spy scandals accompanied mutual deportation of diplomats witnesses that despite the Kremlin's anti-western policy and Russia's rapprochement with the US and NATO, the confrontation between the special services has even aggravated, rather than disappeared. Before Moscow and Stockholm managed to settle the issue of mutual deportation of spies, who were acting under diplomatic cover, a similar situation emerged in relations between Russia and Canada. Two of our diplomats were asked to leave Ottawa; in response, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared two Canadians persona non grata.
Foreign special services, opposed to the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) and the GRU are active aggressive and are uniting their efforts and exchanging intelligence data within the framework of the western intelligence pool. Both the SEPO of Sweden and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the intelligence service of Canada is bearing this exotic name) are coordinating their plans and current programs with the FBI in the US and MI-5 in Britain. As a result, activities of several Europe-based residencies of the FIS is virtually paralyzed in a number of directions and revised reviews of local newspapers are sent to Yasenevo under the guise of espionage materials.
Regular failures of the FIS officers and disclosure of the most precious agents, in particular in North America, proves presence of qualified "moles" of either the CIA or the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) inside the FIS apparatus. It is evident that own efforts of FIS units responsible for interior security are insufficient and the time has come for more intense activities of disclosing foreign spies in the Intelligence Operations Department (IOD) of the FSB (headed by Lieutenant General Nikolai Volobuyev), based in Yasenevo. Last year, agents of the IOD unmasked and monitored over 80 professional agents of foreign special services (activities of 21 of them were surpassed) and detained 45 agents of foreign intelligence services, many of whom are already condemned for espionage.
While Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov is saying that NATO expansion doesn't pose a threat to Russia, FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev is aiming the Lubyanka on the secret service activities with the diplomats and technical staff of embassies of NATO member states, accredited in Russia, the seven stated given invitations to join the Alliance at the NATO summit in Prague included. The Russian intelligence agents note a tendency for joint operations between the CIA and MI-6 and secret services of the Baltic states. In particular, the Americans are closely collaborating with the State Security Department of Lithuania, while the SIS is cooperating with the Estonian special services.
(Translated by Andrei Ryabochkin)
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