Moscow, Russia:
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hailed the country’s “courageous” spies as he visited the headquarters of the Foreign Intelligence Service to mark its 100th birthday.
Putin, who has spent most of the coronavirus epidemic at his residences outdoors the Russian capital and on the Black Sea, visited the SVR headquarters in southern Moscow amid the controversy surrounding the work of the country’s safety services.
SVR, Russia’s external intelligence agency, which succeeded the First Chief Directorate of the KGB in 1991, marks its centenary on Sunday. But December 20 is also the day in Russia when the nation fetes all members of the safety services such as these from the FSB domestic intelligence agency.
Speaking outdoors the SVR headquarters, Putin, himself a former KGB officer, thanked all these who shield Russia from “external and internal threats” and named them “reliable and courageous people.”
“Efficient work of security bodies, which is governed by law and national interests, always was and will be exceptionally important for Russia,” he stated.
“It’s one of the most important guarantees of the sovereign, democratic and independent development of our multinational society,” Putin added.
The 66-year-old Kremlin chief praised the work of SVR which he stated influenced the course of history of each Russia and the globe.
He stated he counted on the external intelligence to continue to counter “potential threats” against Russia but in a uncommon public rebuke also stated the service ought to “increase the quality of its analytical papers.”
Addressing members of the FSB domestic intelligence and other anti-terror services, Putin stated they ought to continue to act “decisively”.
“It’s also necessary to build on the current successes when it comes to work of counter-intelligence,” he added.
Putin praised Russian safety agents immediately after an investigative report claimed this week that members of the FSB intelligence have been behind the poisoning of best opposition leader Alexei Navalny with Novichok, a Soviet-created nerve agent.
Putin dismissed the joint report led by the investigative web page Bellingcat, saying that if the Russian safety services had wanted to poison Navalny, “they would have taken it to the end.”
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