Russian intelligence services have significantly stepped up their espionage activities in Europe since the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Financial Times writes about this, citing comments from Western intelligence officers and officials.

What is known about the Russian spy network

"The cat-and-mouse game is back... Russian activity is the same or even more active than during the Cold War... Russian intelligence is a huge machine, and it is again doing what it has always done," Western intelligence officials said.

They are convinced that the conversations of German officers about the Taurus missiles and the Crimean bridge that were "filed" and published by Russian propagandists are only one of the latest examples.

So, on February 27, 2024, the sixth Bulgarian - 38-year-old Tikhomir Ivanchev - was exposed in Britain.

He participated in an alleged Russian spy network.

Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who defected to Ukraine, was found dead in Spain, and France exposed a propaganda network consisting of 193 sites designed to spread disinformation ahead of the 2024 European elections.

Intelligence officials and analysts wrote that the intensification of Russian intelligence operations indicates a "new lease of life" for Russian spies after humiliating setbacks in early 2022.

Then Western agencies publicized the Kremlin's plans to invade Ukraine.

After that, Russia's intentions became known, and European countries began to expel diplomats.

After that, Europe immediately expelled 600 Russian diplomats, of which 400 are believed to be spies.

In addition, several so-called "illegals" - Russian agents who did not have diplomatic cover - were discovered.

When the Russian ground invasion stalled, Putin placed senior FSB leaders under house arrest for grossly underestimating Ukrainian resistance.

Since then, the enemy special services (GRU military intelligence, FSB Federal Security Service and foreign intelligence service) have regrouped and modernized.

"The priorities remain the same as before the war: to steal Western secrets, deepen divisions within NATO and undermine support for Ukraine. However, methods have become more inventive to compensate for the broken espionage networks in Europe and to circumvent restrictions on Russians operating on the continent." writes the Financial Times.

The Kremlin is learning from its mistakes

The publication writes that one of the biggest changes that Russia has started using is the use of indirect intelligence.

In particular, foreigners involved in politics, business or organized crime.

Intelligence analysts and 9 officials told the paper that for Russian spies, conducting remote operations with the help of remote and newly recruited individuals has both advantages and disadvantages.

Russian intelligence began to recruit so-called "clean personnel" who do not have military experience.

Their task is to sneak into target countries and establish personal contacts.

Russia controls many of them remotely, but perceives this method as unreliable.

"Now the goal is to develop legitimate covers, or legends, so that agents can get into the target countries," the publication writes.

It is noted that the old model of "legal" Russian spies operating outside embassies is effective for Russia in traditionally neutral countries.

In particular, in Austria and Switzerland.

In addition, Russian spies outside the EU have strengthened their bases.

In particular, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East have become important "transshipment points" for Russian intelligence operations in Europe.

In particular, the new approach of Russia was described in its recent annual report by the internal intelligence service of Norway.

"We expect that Russia will try to compensate for the loss of intelligence officers, in particular, by sending more guest agents," the intelligence officers noted.

According to foreign journalists, the expulsion of Russian diplomats probably made the work of counterintelligence more difficult.

After all, Western agencies used to know who was a spy and could track who they met with and potentially recruit them.

"After the invasion of Ukraine, Western special services also increased cooperation, creating a network of databases and connections to catch Russian agents," the publication noted.

They claim that, despite this, sometimes Russian intelligence officers achieve striking successes.

This was the case with the 2021 SolarWinds cyber attack that hacked the Pentagon, or now with the German leak.

It will be recalled that Russian propagandists said that representatives of the German Bundeswehr discussed strikes on the Crimean bridge with the help of long-range Taurus missiles.

Propagandist Margarita Simonyan said about the "intercepted" conversation of high-ranking officers of the German army.

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