During an expanded meeting of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin directed the agency to “strengthen our counterintelligence” in lieu of the West’s intelligence agencies always keeping a “close eye” on Moscow by assigning more staff and technical resources.
“We need to respond accordingly,” he underscored.
💬 President Putin: Western intelligence agencies have always kept a close eye on Russia. Today, they have assigned even more staff and added technical and other resources to use against us. We need to respond accordingly.
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) February 28, 2023
🔗 https://t.co/pBObkwycav pic.twitter.com/0xQiwoIGRY
Ukraine’s Use of “Terrorist Methods”
Putin accused Ukraine of using “terrorist methods” and accused Western powers of attempting to “revive extremist and terrorist cells” in Russia.
“We know that they have never had any qualms relying on radicals and extremists when it suited their agenda, despite all their vociferous talk about fighting international terrorism,” he stated.
Putin also called for an expansion of the FSB's counter-intelligence purview into Ukraine
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) February 28, 2023
Greater FSB protection for the occupied regions and FSB involvement in intercepting the flow of "illegal weapons" from Ukraine to Russia
He urged FSB officials to “effectively respond to all these challenges” in coordination with law enforcement agencies and the National Counter-Terrorist Committee, and “continuously monitor” critical infrastructure facilities, crowded public areas, transport hubs, defence industry enterprises, and fuel and energy facilities.
Fulfilling Goals of Special Military Operation in Ukraine
Putin lauded the agency’s efforts in the special military operation in Ukraine over the past year, acknowledging “losses in our ranks” as well, without specifying a number. He underscored that the FSB’s “primary task” was to “continue assisting” the Russian forces “in their efforts to fulfil the objectives of the special military operation, including in terms of counter-intelligence support for our troops and ensuring that they can access intelligence information swiftly and without delay.”
He also wanted the agency to “pay special attention to establishing security agencies” in the newly-annexed Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. “Building trust among people in Donbas and Novorossiya is our and your most reliable and critical pillar,” Putin stressed.
Putin spoke to FSB (federal secury bureau) employees.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 28, 2023
He urged them to closely guard Russian-Ukrainian border and, of course, watch out for the evil-evil West. pic.twitter.com/kEVGP3AEwI
Additionally, Putin called on the FSB Border Guard Service to “undertake special efforts to control the Russian state border with Ukraine” in order to “prevent any incursions by sabotage groups and stop any attempts to smuggle weapons and ammunition into Russia.”
Combating Growing Extremism
The Russian President insisted that “proactive measures against extremism” must be taken while exposing and curbing the “illegal activity of those who are trying to divide and weaken our society by using separatism, nationalism, neo-Nazism, and xenophobia as their weapons,” especially since such efforts have “particularly intensified.”
In addition, he tasked FSB officers to “reliably protect and seal” critical information related to the country’s administration, military and law enforcement agencies, defence industry enterprises, critical technology, and personal data, including all data connected with the latest Russian weapons and technology.
Putin also emphasised the need to “further improve the security of Russia’s information and digital space.”