The American intelligence agency CIA is looking for Russians who dislike and oppose Russia’s war in Ukraine, to recruit them as spies. Former CIA officials said dissatisfaction with the war in Ukraine provided fertile ground for the recruitment of disgruntled military officials. European countries have expelled more than 400 Russian officials suspected of being spies
The CIA intelligence agency is looking for Russians who dislike and oppose Russia’s war in Ukraine, to recruit them as spies. The Wall Street Journal reports that David Marlowe, the agency’s deputy director, first announced this during a conference held at George Mason University’s Hayden Center in Fairfax County, Virginia. The deputy director of the intelligence agency said that Putin was “at his best moment, the day before he invaded Ukraine, with all the power he ever had. He wasted a lot of it,” he said
Marlow, before adding: “We are looking around the world for Russians who are as disgusted by Putin’s actions as we are. Because we are open for business.”
His remarks were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which pointed out similarities to comments by former senior CIA officers who said discontent with the war in Ukraine provided fertile ground for the recruitment of disgruntled military officials, oligarchs financially affected by the war, and those fleeing Russia.
Marlowe’s comments come after a senior British intelligence official revealed last week that European countries have expelled more than 400 Russian officials suspected of being spies. The director general of the British intelligence agency MI5, Ken McCallum, praised the intelligence community for its role in the ongoing war in Ukraine and said that these actions “delivered the most significant strategic blow against the Russian intelligence services in recent European history.”
According to estimates, more than 400,000 Russians left Russia in the months after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, and about 700,000 more Russians left in the two weeks since Putin announced a “partial” call-up of reserves in September. Marlowe’s comments join a report that the CIA has set up a portal on the “dark web” (darknet) for disgruntled Russians with inside information or access to information who want to get in touch. “We are providing instructions in the Russian language on how to safely contact the CIA. For those who feel compelled to contact us because of the Russian government’s unjust war,” a CIA official told CBS.