From the Independent, via todays' Drudge Report
"Russia has resumed Cold War levels of spying and intelligence gathering in Britain, senior Whitehall and security sources have told The Independent.
Among the spies are at least 32 Russian diplomats who are attempting to obtain secret information about the United Kingdom's military, technical and political capabilities, according to authoritative sources.
The spy network is also collecting information about opponents and critics of Vladimir Putin, the Russian President and a former KGB officer, who are exiles in Britain.
A Whitehall source said: 'The level of espionage by the Russians in the UK is back to Cold War levels: it is business as usual for the spies.'
MI5, the counter-intelligence agency, has warned David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, of the growing Russian spying activities. It is concerned that funding for counter-espionage work has been cut by half because resources have been reallocated to deal with al-Qa'ida.
A confidential document, Espionage Threat, based on information provided by M15 and MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, also reveals that Russian spies have been monitoring the movements of military aircraft in the UK.
The classified paper, written by military intelligence earlier this year, said the agents were using the internet to target military specialists with access to secret information...
...Alex Standish, editor of Jane's Intelligence Digest, said: 'We are seeing a steady increase in the number of diplomats being posted in the UK. If you look at the profile of the individuals you see a significant proportion of these people are linked to the SVR. Putin is rapidly building up intelligence systems that have been allowed to fall into decline under the Yeltsin era.'
A spokesman from the Russian Embassy, based at Kensington Palace Gardens, in west London, said: 'No comment'. "
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=576076
Couple things I can't understand. Why would Russia spy on Britain, now that the "ideal of communism" is no longer the guiding force of their government?
The key things are: 1) We can still rest assured that, unlike the 60's when the Russians (Soviets) infiltrated organizations like the Weathermen, Russia has no covert involvement with the US now, and
2) Unlike in the Cold War, when the Russians (Soviets) ran terrorism in the world (albeit through surrogates like the East Europeans), they have absolutely nothing to do with any terrorism today. Couldn't be that they are still connected to it (even though the goals, methods, modus operendi are all pretty much the same).
3) It is just coincidence that about half the most senior leaders of Russia, including the President, are former KGB members. Their goal is democracy and capitalism. |