The main shortcomings in the work of the Russian intelligence services contributed significantly to the failure of the plans for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Experts from the British Royal United Services Institute prepared a report on the lessons of the war in Ukraine, stating that the FSB and other special services, thanks to careful planning, managed to quickly organize the work in the territories occupied by the Russian army and achieve remarkable success in organizing work regimes.
However, at the same time, the structures of the Russian special services, which largely followed Soviet doctrines, had a number of serious shortcomings that prevented the Russian army from implementing its plans before the war, British experts believe.
Agents in Ukraine
According to the authors, the FSB was deeply involved in the planning of the invasion, apparently given the task of preparing plans for the invasion of Ukraine in July 2021. This required the training of a wide agency of the FSB, so in the fall of 2021, Russian agents in Ukraine began vacationing in the resorts of Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt, where they met with their handlers.
The authors of the report pay close attention to the working methods of Russian intelligence agencies, emphasizing that they prefer to reduce the work of agents from Russia, instead recruiting agents on the ground managing their own networks.
“If these people occupy a political, economic or bureaucratic position in the target country, they can recruit people not as agents of Russia, but as their personal clients, which in this way is beginning to unwittingly advance Russia’s interests,” the report said. This is one of those forms of recruitment under a false flag, where the agent may believe that he is being given a task on behalf of an official of his own country, even though the task is entirely conceived in Moscow. .
In the case of Ukraine, this role is played by several high-ranking officials and politicians with ties to the Russian intelligence services for decadesthe report said.
Agents of the Russian special services tried to carry out internal destabilization in Ukraine, including in the Ukrainian intelligence community, law enforcement agencies, other government bodies, political parties, public organizations and criminal structures.
Agents who held high positions in the Ukrainian government had their own large equipment, which was used to solve various tasks – from money transfer to arranging safe houses. Among these indigenous agents, there are both Ukrainians loyal to Russia and simple paid agents, often from criminal communities.
Although this device was of little value for invasion plans, it became extremely important for the actions of the Russians in the occupied territories.
The role of the church
The authors also note the importance of the Russian Orthodox Church as the only support body for ideologically committed agents of Russian influence. Since the relationship between the state and religious institutions is a rather sensitive matter, even after the invasion, the Ukrainian authorities did not immediately limit the work of these parts of the Russian support apparatus.
Russian agents must also incite mass protests. Moreover, this plan includes not only provocations, but also attempts to influence the top leadership of Ukraine and force them to abandon the course of joining NATO and take a neutral position on the eve of the invasion. According to the plan of the Russian special services, it should provoke mass protests similar to the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 and facilitate the destabilization of the country by paralyzing the security forces and the military command. None of this actually happened.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.