Tag: Putin

Russia plans effectively to revive the KGB under a massive shake-up of its security forces, a respected business daily has reported. A State Security Ministry, or MGB, would be created from the current Federal Security Service (FSB) , and would incorporate the foreign intelligence service (SVR) and the state guard service (FSO), under the plans. It […]

And during the time it takes to train and shift the US’s intelligence capabilities against Russia, the US remains greatly outnumbered by Russian operatives.

“The counterintelligence operation that [Moscow] runs against the US Embassy measured in the thousands,” Michael McFaul, a Stanford University professor and former US ambassador to Russia, told the Post. “It always felt, especially sitting in Moscow, of course, that we were in a counterintelligence and collection battle that was an asymmetric fight.”

CIA Director John Brennan recently addressed Russia’s “exceptionally capable and sophisticated” infiltration abilities.

“I think that we have to be very, very wary of what the Russians might be trying to do in terms of collecting information in a cyber realm, as well as what they might want to do with it,” Brennan explained on CBS.

Though hidden from public view, the escalation in espionage activity is part of a broader renewal of conflict and competition between the United States and Russia after a two-decade lull. Surging tensions now cut across nearly every aspect of the U.S-Russia relationship.

Russia’s new, asymmetric approach is perhaps best exemplified by its state-run nuclear contractor Rosatom’s strategy of creating security vulnerabilities in Europe. A recent report from a think tank in Finland – where Rosatom partly owns a nuclear power plant being built in Pyhajoki – suggested that the Kremlin is striking deals such as these to create dependencies in other countries. Separately, Lithuania has said it may file a lawsuit over the poor-quality construction of the Astravets nuclear power plant, which is being built by Rosatom in neighboring Belarus with no supervision and at a very low cost. Lithuanian officials are worried that Rosatom is using substandard Russian security systems that are likely much weaker than their Western equivalents – a state of affairs that analysts believe could pave the way for a nuclear disaster. Recent reports that at least ten workers died in mysterious circumstances while working at Astravets, and that a 330-ton reactor shell was dropped thus triggering an emergency situation, have hardly reassured Vilnius. Outside of Europe, Rosatom is also playing a very delicate role in Iran’s nuclear program, working on the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant while the Obama administration tries to preserve its controversial Iran nuclear deal.

In a breathtakingly revealing article in the Washington Post on September 14, 2016, reporter Greg Miller laid out a sweeping overview of the United States’ espionage efforts against Russia, which, he reported, are intensifying amid a surge in Russian assertiveness in both international affairs and, specifically, in U.S. internal politics. One would be hard-pressed to […]

With the U.S. incapable of openly supporting anti-regime forces in Syria, and Europe facing a multitude of crises, the way is open for Putin in Syria.

US President Obama says an agreement with Russia on ending the violence in Syria is being hampered by “gaps of trust” between the two governments. Asked by CNN’s Michelle Kosinski about his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the President described it as “candid” and “blunt” focusing mainly on Syria and Ukraine. Mr. Obama called […]

Foreign spies met with campaign contacts and staff, used human source networks for policy insights, exploited technology to get otherwise sensitive data, engaged in perception management to influence policy.

They’re taking calculated risks and creating a global narrative. They’re shaping sentiment – and, in turn, exploiting it. It’s both impressive and worrisome for the West.

By any standards, the drumbeat of growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine this month has been especially ominous. It began as Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of embracing the “tactics of terror,” after Russia claimed to have caught Ukrainian saboteurs in Crimea. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko put troops on alert and warned that the country might […]

There’s something afoot in the Black Sea basin. Last week Moscow accused Ukraine of attempting a terrorist attack in Crimea, alleging that a firefight took place on August 7 and 8 between a supposed team of infiltrators and border guards of the FSB, Russia’s internal security service. The details of the incident remain murky. It was clear […]

Such payments, if true, cast Manafort as a shady individual with heavy Russian interests and ties. He is now a giant distraction for a campaign that prides itself in it’s ability to freely attack Hillary Clinton on issues related to Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin.