![]() ![]() Russia is almost unique in the way it changes the nationality of its Russian born officers and gives them years to build up a false identity in another country, before being called forward to undertake a specific task that may take decades to complete. Resembling normal people, many have been uncovered through a combination of their recent activities and heightened awareness by the authorities. ![]() Illegals ĭeep-cover spies, or ‘’illegals’’, a term for intelligence agents operating without diplomatic cover, have been uncovered in a number of countries. The head of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service, Richard Moore, reported that roughly half of Russia’s spies working under diplomatic cover were expelled from Europe by July 2022. These expulsions of diplomats normally came at a cost, with retaliation by Russia against diplomats based at embassy's in Russia. In addition to ‘’illegals’’, over 600 Russian diplomats have been identified and been declared ‘’persona non grata’’ in 20 and had their accreditation cancelled, with a number being described as ‘’intelligence officers masquerading as diplomats’’ or "national security" concerns. See also: Diplomatic expulsions during the Russo-Ukrainian War It is much harder to determine effectiveness of spies on the ground in other countries. There have however been some successes, in cyber warfare, in the media and on the ground in occupied areas of Ukraine. In diplomatic circles we see failures, mainly due to the mass expulsion of diplomats. There was also a Russian intelligence failure to comprehend the West's willingness to support Ukraine in the long term. Whilst it is clear that the opinion of Russian operatives regarding the willingness of Ukraine to enter into, and the preparedness of Ukraine for war, was a catastrophic failure, with the Russian military in February 2022 expecting to be welcomed with open arms, this is in part due to the fact that Russia's covert attempts to destabilise Ukraine in the second half of 2021 and early 2022 were a failure. “Counterintelligence efforts to look for illegals had intensified recently”.“The breadth of Moscow’s spying operations made it a unique threat”, said Janez Stušek, director of Slovenia's Sova intelligence agency until June 2022. ![]() The threat of spies has been increasing in Europe, most of which are Russian. They can be hard to identify, resembling normal people. Termed “illegals”, operatives without diplomatic accreditation, agents often spend years building up false identities, living a quiet life, though sometimes they then move location/country with their partner, who may or may not know of their espionage activities and any children, who will not know of any nefarious activities. In the context of the Russo-Ukrainian War, in the time leading up to and after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, a number of citizens of the Russian Federation and of other nationalities working for Russia have been identified publicly as spies or agents of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Russia's foreign intelligence service (SVR) or the third intelligence arm, the military intelligence service (GRU). ![]()
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