The US and its allies are trying to exploit gaps in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s power base by recruiting top Russian officials to spy for the West.
The effort takes on renewed urgency after the shocking but short-lived uprising by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former Putin ally, who turned his private Wagner military group against the Kremlin late last month.
CIA Director William Burns, in his call for recruits among the Russian elite, said the split presented a “unique opportunity” to exploit cracks in Moscow’s upper echelons.
“I think Putin is a little nervous looking over his shoulder,” Burns said in a statement Thursday at the Aspen Security Forum.
The CIA director’s comments follow a rare speech earlier this week by the chief of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency MI6, in which he repeated the call for Russians, “appalled” by Putin’s war in Ukraine, to turn to Western intelligence agencies.
“There are many Russians today who are silently appalled at the way their forces are pulverizing Ukrainian cities, driving innocent families from their homes and kidnapping thousands of children,” MI6 chief Richard Moore said in a speech in Prague on Wednesday.
“I invite you to do what others have already done for the past 18 months and join us. Our door is always open,” he added.
The public statements build on previous efforts by intelligence agencies, particularly the CIA and FBI, to target Russians unhappy with Putin’s war.
Burns said a CIA video posted on Telegram in May, explaining to Russians how to contact the spy agency discreetly, garnered 2.5 million views in the first week.
The Russian-language video features fictional Russians grappling with the decision to contact the CIA and shows how using portals on the dark web can help protect their communications from surveillance.
The messaging app is one of the most widely used social media tools in Russia, where other websites – like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – are blocked.
“In today’s Russia, speaking out remains very difficult, and speaking the truth often has dire consequences,” a CIA official who was granted anonymity to discuss intelligence matters told The Hill.
“The CIA wants to know the truth about Russia and we are looking for trusted people to tell us and with whom we can communicate safely,” they said.
The aim is to reach Russian officials working in critical sectors – such as the military, intelligence, scientific research and technology – or business partners associated with these industries.
“People may also not be aware that what they know is of great value to us,” the official said.
“We are interested in advanced science, military and cybertechnology, financial information, sources of valuable data and secrets of foreign policy,” the official added, noting that information about top leadership and the Russian economy is also valued.
Russians who decide to oppose Putin and his government face enormous dangers.
Yana Gorokhovskaia, research director at the nonprofit organization Freedom House, said Russia’s obliteration of almost all political freedoms has made speaking out extremely dangerous.
“There is very little room for hate speech and the Kremlin has punished people very harshly if they spoke out against the war in any way, including making very innocuous comments that this is a war, that Russian soldiers shouldn’t die this way – people are sentenced to prison terms,” she said. “The cost of speaking up is much higher today than it was 20 years ago.”
Secret and public opponents of the government have been the target of assassinations and exorbitant prison sentences.
In 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence operative acting as a double agent for the UK, survived a poisoning attempt by Russian security services in the UK city of Bristol.
In April, Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza was convicted of treason and sentenced to 25 years in prison for opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry criticized the verdict as an act of repression by the Kremlin.
And jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who survived an alleged assassination attempt in August 2020, is currently facing a 20-year sentence on charges of extremism, which he and his supporters have criticized as attempts to silence dissent.
“Everyone in Russia knows that whoever seeks justice in court is completely defenseless,” Navalny said in a statement from prison read by his supporters.
“Disputes are resolved through negotiation, authority, bribery, deception, treason, and other real mechanisms, not by any kind of law.”
In his remarks at Aspen, Burns called Putin “the ultimate apostle of retribution” and quipped that Prigozhin — who is believed to be in exile in Belarus under a deal with Putin that ended the uprising — should keep his food taster off salary.
Putin’s paranoia appears to be extending to those close to him as well. Russia’s top general Sergei Surovikin has disappeared from public view after reports he may have had advanced knowledge of Prighosin’s mutiny plans.
“An atmosphere of paranoia is very bad for any organization — you don’t share information properly, you don’t trust people, you fire people, etc.,” wrote Daniel Byman, senior fellow with the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in an email to The Hill.
“There are likely to be many Russian officials who are upset about the war, may be in a more difficult financial situation (and therefore more open to financial incentives), or are otherwise more willing to consider espionage than in the past.” So there could be potential walk-ins,” he said.
But Byman added that even if spy recruitment efforts fail, “it gives the impression that there are a lot of potential US/UK etc spies or potential spies.”
The CIA’s recruitment offer does not specifically include financial benefits, although the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offers significant rewards for actionable information on a number of US national security priorities.
However, the main selling point seems to be influencing change and exerting influence.
MI6 chief Moore said the aim of British intelligence is to recruit Russians who “could help us stop the bloodshed in Ukraine” and not necessarily to overthrow Putin.
“You can’t change anything about what’s going on in Russia. “What happens in Russia is ultimately up to the Russians,” Moore said in an interview with Politico after his speech.
Burns said in his remarks in Aspen that the US and UK “are pursuing the same goal,” but the CIA official who spoke to The Hill said the agency also wants to know what’s happening in Russia.
Washington Governor: Climate change is imminent A major drug price cap bill to cap insulin costs is facing hurdles in Congress
“We remain intensely focused on obtaining intelligence on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but we also recognize that this invasion is a symptom of broader problems in the Russian system, and as such we are also seeking broader information on Russia.”
And what can someone expect when making the decision to contact the CIA?
“We would say please be patient. We thank you for your brave action and will choose the safest time and manner to respond,” the official said.
Copyright 2023 Nextstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.