Kiev and its allies set up terrorist cells, Russia's President Putin claims. They also wanted to spy on Moscow's intelligence. He swears the officers of his domestic intelligence service to take a hard line against his opponents.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the domestic secret service FSB to intensify counter-espionage against Western secret services. They have expanded their work against Russia, which is why counter-intelligence must also be stepped up, Putin said in a speech to FSB officers broadcast on state television. Putin, who once had a career with the feared Soviet secret service KGB and was stationed in Dresden for years during the GDR era, once held the post of head of the FSB.
Western services deployed additional personnel, technical and other resources to act against Russia, Putin claimed. They didn't just try to activate terrorist and extremist cells. They were primarily after intelligence findings and wanted to spy on Russia's new weapons and technology. At the same time, Putin asked the FSB, which is also responsible for border security in Russia, to intensify controls at the crossings to Ukraine.
It must be prevented that sabotage groups and weapons enter the country via these routes. The number of "terrorist crimes" has increased in the wake of Russia's war of aggression, Putin said, without giving any figures. "In the past year, the number of such crimes has increased. Obviously, this is related, among other things, to attempts by the Kiev regime to use terrorist methods," said Putin.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj repeatedly accuses Russia of being a "terrorist state" because of the war of aggression and the constant attacks with rockets and drones. Putin demanded that terrorists and extremists should also be searched for on social networks on the Internet. Last but not least, they tried to tempt young people to commit crimes.
"Of course, the illegal actions of those who try to divide and weaken our society, using separatism, nationalism, neo-Nazism and xenophobia as weapons, must be stopped," Putin said. Such methods have always existed. However, activities have increased in the wake of Russia's war against Ukraine, Putin said.
