CIA tries to recruit double agents in Russia

2024-01-23 21:45:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has released a Russian-language video in an attempt to convince Russian intelligence operatives to work as double agents for Washington.

The director of the CIA, William Burns, stated last July that there is discontent among some Russians regarding the war in Ukraine and this discontent creates opportunities to recruit spies and the CIA will exploit this situation.

The video, released on the CIA's official social media channels, seeks to convince those who suggest they are Russian patriots working for the intelligence services and may feel betrayed by what has been described as corruption in elite and fashion circles. how poorly the Russian armed forces are equipped and supplied.

"Those around you probably don't want to hear the truth. But, we love. You are not powerless," says the video, which is the latest in a series of recruiting videos targeting Russia. The video then shows how to contact the CIA.

Accompanied by melancholic music, the main character of the video, a fictional character, a 35-year-old man, appears as an employee of Russia's military intelligence agency who portrays himself as a Russia-loving patriot who previously served as a paratrooper .

"Do you have enough courage to face this betrayal," he says in the video, before he realizes that the real enemy within Russia is a corrupt form of leadership.

This fictional character then says that because of his patriotism he has decided to act and work with the CIA.

A CIA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he has seen increased Russian interest as a result of the videos. However, this claim could not be independently confirmed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB spy who served in what was then East Germany, has called on the domestic security service, the FSB, to step up operations to combat what he described as a rise of espionage from the West.

The Kremlin has also said that the army is equipped with everything it needs for the war in Ukraine, which it describes as a "special military operation". He also rejected the various allegations of corruption.

CIA recruiting videos have been posted on Facebook, X - formerly known as Twitter - and Telegram, a popular social media platform in Russia.

"You know, this practice is common, intelligence agencies around the world often use media and social networks to recruit new employees. We all know that the CIA does this every year," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov suggested that the CIA is wasting time trying to reach Russians through the X platform, which is banned in Russia, and Russians can only access it by using a VPN. Facebook is also banned in Russia.

“Someone should tell the CIA that in our country VKontakte [Russian social network] is much more popular than X, which is banned. And that the audience on VKontakte is much bigger", said Peskov./ Rel