View source for Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)

{{short description|Russian intelligence agency}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation
| nativename      = 
| nativename_a    = 
| nativename_r    = {{lang|ru|Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации}}
| logo            = Emblem of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia.svg
| logo_width      = 150 px
| logo_caption    = Emblem of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation
| seal            = 
| seal_width      = 
| seal_caption    = 
| picture         = Flag of the Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia).svg{{!}}border
| picture_width   = 150px
| picture_caption = Flag of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation
| formed          = {{start date and age|df=y|1991|12}}
| preceding1      = [[KGB]] [[First Chief Directorate]]
| preceding2      = 
| dissolved       = 
| superseding     = 
| jurisdiction    = Russia
| headquarters    = [[Yasenevo District|Yasenevo]], Moscow, Russia
| coordinates     = {{Coord|55.584|N|37.517|E|display= title,inline}}
| employees       = ''Classified''; estimated 13,000 in 2010<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10447308 | title=Profile: Russia's SVR intelligence agency | work=BBC News | date=29 June 2010 }}</ref>
| budget          = ''Classified''
| minister1_name  = [[Vladimir Putin]]
| minister1_pfo   = [[President of Russia]]
| minister2_name  = 
| minister2_pfo   = 
| chief1_name     = [[Sergey Naryshkin]]<ref>{{cite web |title= Sergey Naryshkin profile |url=http://government.ru/en/persons/338/ |publisher=Government of Russia}}</ref>
| chief1_position = [[Director of SVR|Director]]
| chief2_name     = 
| chief2_position = 
| parent_agency   = 
| child1_agency   = Institute of Intelligence Information
| child2_agency   = 
| website         = [http://svr.gov.ru svr.gov.ru]
| footnotes       = <!--- Российской Федерации---->
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| name               = 
| native_name        = 
| native_name_lang   = 
| image              = Some Moscow buildings (2558373456).jpg
| image_size         = 250px
| caption            = Headquarters of the SVR in Moscow
| start_date         = 
| completion_date    = 
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The '''Foreign Intelligence Service'''{{efn|{{lang-rus|Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации|r=Sluzhba Vneshney razvedki Rossiyskoy Federatsii |p=ˈsluʐbə ˈvnʲɛʂnʲɪj rɐˈzvʲɛtkʲɪ}}}} ('''SVR''') is the civilian foreign [[intelligence agency]] of [[Russia]]. The SVR succeeded the [[First Chief Directorate]] of the [[KGB]] in December 1991.<ref name="Littell">''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080807054247/http://www.psan.org/document551.html The Security Organs of the Russian Federation: A Brief History 1991–2004]'' by [[Jonathan Littell]], Psan Publishing House 2006.</ref> The SVR has its headquarters in the [[Yasenevo District]] of Moscow with its director reporting directly to the [[President of the Russian Federation]].

Unlike the Russian [[Federal Security Service]] (FSB), the SVR is tasked with intelligence and espionage activities outside the Russian Federation. A small service, it works collaboratively with its [[military intelligence]] counterpart, the [[GRU (Russian Federation)|Main Intelligence Directorate]], better known as the GRU. As of 1997, the GRU reportedly deployed six times as many spies in foreign countries as the SVR.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=4&issue_id=217&article_id=2507|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061125045521/http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=4&issue_id=217&article_id=2507|url-status=dead|title=The Jamestown Foundation|archive-date=25 November 2006}}</ref> The SVR is authorized to negotiate intelligence-sharing arrangements with foreign governments, particularly on matters of [[counterterrorism]], and is tasked with providing finished intelligence products to the [[Russian president]].<ref name="Mitrokhin"/>

Any information pertaining to specific identities of staff employees ([[Intelligence officer|officers]]) of the SVR is considered a state secret; since September 2018, the same protection has applied to non-staff personnel (i.e., [[Agent handling|agents]], [[Informant|informants]], or [[Cooptee|cooptees]].)<ref>
[https://www.newsru.com/russia/04sep2018/secret.html Путин засекретил и сделал гостайной данные о всех "внештатниках" Службы внешней разведки (СВР)] [[NEWSru]] 4 September 2018.
</ref>

==History==
{{Main|First Chief Directorate}}
SVR RF is the official foreign-operations successor to many prior Soviet-era foreign intelligence agencies, ranging from the original 'foreign department' of the [[Cheka]] under [[Vladimir Lenin]], to the [[OGPU]] and [[NKVD]] of the [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]ist era, followed by the First Chief Directorate of the [[KGB]].

Officially, the SVR RF dates its own beginnings to the founding of the Special Section of the Cheka on 20 December 1920.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}  The head of the Cheka, [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]], created the Foreign Department (''Inostranny Otdel'' – INO) to improve the collection as well as the dissemination of foreign intelligence. On 6 February 1922, the Foreign Department of the Cheka became part of a renamed organization, the ''State Political Directorate'', or [[OGPU|GPU]]. The Foreign Department was placed in charge of intelligence activities overseas, including collection of important intelligence from foreign countries and the liquidation of defectors, emigres, and other assorted 'enemies of the people'.  In 1922, after the creation of the State Political Directorate (GPU) and its merger with the [[People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs]] of the RSFSR, foreign intelligence was conducted by the GPU Foreign Department, and between December 1923 and July 1934 by the Foreign Department of Joint State Political Administration or OGPU. In July 1934, the OGPU was reincorporated into the [[NKVD]].  In 1954, the NKVD in turn became the KGB, which in 1991 became SVR and FSB.

In 1996, the SVR RF issued a CD-ROM entitled ''Russian Foreign Intelligence: VChK–KGB–SVR'', which claims to provide "a professional view on the history and development of one of the most powerful secret services in the world" where all services are presented as one evolving organization.<ref name="Mitrokhin"/>

Former [[Director of SVR|Director of the SVR RF]] [[Sergey Lebedev (politician)|Sergei Lebedev]] stated "there has not been any place on the planet where a KGB officer has not been".  During their 80th anniversary celebration, [[Vladimir Putin]] went to SVR headquarters to meet with other former KGB/SVR chiefs [[Vladimir Kryuchkov]], [[Leonid Shebarshin]], [[Yevgeny Primakov]], and [[Vyacheslav Trubnikov]], as well as other agents, including the British double agent and ex-Soviet spy [[George Blake]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/ci4/ch2.pdf|title=A Counterintelligence Reader, Volume IV: American Revolution into the New Millenium|last=((National Counterintelligence and Security Center))|publisher=[[Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive|National Counterintelligence and Security Center]]|isbn=9781780392318|editor-last=Rafalko|editor-first=Frank J.|via=[[Federation of American Scientists]]|date=September 2011}}</ref>

==Legal authority==
The "Law on Foreign Intelligence" was written by the SVR leadership itself and adopted in August 1992. This Law provided conditions for "penetration by checkists of all levels of the government and economy", since it stipulated that "career personnel may occupy positions in ministries, departments, establishments, enterprises and organizations in accordance with the requirements of this law without compromising their association with foreign intelligence agencies."<ref name="Anderson">[https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08850600601079958 "The HUMINT Offensive from Putin's Checkist State"] Anderson, Julie (2007), ''International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence'', 20:2, 258–316</ref>

A new "Law on Foreign Intelligence Organs" was passed by the [[State Duma]] and the [[Federation Council of Russia|Federation Council]] in late 1995 and signed into effect by the then-President [[Boris Yeltsin]] on 10 January 1996.  The law authorizes the SVR to carry out the following:

# Conduct intelligence;
# Implement [[active measures]] to ensure Russia's security;
# Conduct military, strategic, economic, scientific and technological espionage;
# Protect employees of Russian institutions overseas and their families;
# Provide personal security for Russian government officials and their families;
# Conduct joint operations with foreign security services;
# Conduct [[electronic surveillance]] in foreign countries.

The SVR sends to the Russian president daily digests of intelligence, similar to the [[President's Daily Brief]] produced by the [[United States Intelligence Community]] in the US. However, unlike in the US, the SVR recommends to the president which policy options are preferable.<ref name="Mitrokhin"/>

Since 2012, the [[President of the Russian Federation]] can personally issue any secret orders to the SVR RF without consulting the parliament of national legislature, the [[Federal Assembly (Russia)|Federal Assembly]], which consists of the [[State Duma]] and [[Federation Council (Russia)|Federation Council]].{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

==Command structure==
[[File:Встреча с руководителями органов безопасности и разведслужб СНГ - 4.jpeg|thumb|Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] and [[Mikhail Fradkov]], head of the SVR RF from 2007 to 2016]]

According to Article 12 of the 1996 Federal Law "On Foreign Intelligence", "overall direction" of external intelligence activity is executed by the [[president of Russia]], who appoints the [[Director of SVR|Director of the SVR]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://svr.gov.ru/svr_today/doc02.htm|title=Федеральный закон "О внешней разведке"|website=svr.gov.ru}}</ref>

The director provides regular briefings to the president. The director is a permanent member of the [[Security Council of Russia]] and the Defense Council.

According to published sources, the SVR included the following directorates in the 1990s:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/russia/svr/org.htm|title=SVR Organization - Russia / Soviet Intelligence Agencies|access-date=16 May 2016|archive-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428001616/http://fas.org/irp/world/russia/svr/org.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Kuzminov">Alexander Kouzminov, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050425151231/http://www.calitreview.com/Interviews/int_kouzminov_8013.htm ''Biological Espionage: Special Operations of the Soviet and Russian Foreign Intelligence Services in the West''], Greenhill Books, 2006, {{ISBN|1-85367-646-2}}.</ref>

* Directorate PR: Political Intelligence: Included seventeen departments, each responsible for different countries of the world (espionage in the US, Canada, Latin America, etc.)
* Directorate S: Illegal Intelligence: Included thirteen departments responsible for preparing and planting "[[Resident spy|illegal agents]]" abroad, "biological espionage", recruitment of foreign citizens on the Russian territory and other duties.
* Directorate X: Scientific and Technical Intelligence
* Directorate KR: External Counter-Intelligence: This Directorate "carries out infiltration of foreign intelligence and security services and exercises surveillance over Russian citizens abroad."
* Directorate OT: Operational and Technical Support
* Directorate R: Operational Planning and Analysis: Evaluates SVR operations abroad.
* Directorate I: Computer Service (Information and Dissemination): Analyzes and distributes intelligence data and publishes a daily current events summaries for the president.
* Directorate of Economic Intelligence

According to the SVR RF web site,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://svr.gov.ru|title=Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации|access-date=16 May 2016}}</ref> the organization currently consists of a director, a first deputy director (who oversees the directions for Foreign Counterintelligence and Economic Intelligence) and the following departments:
*Personnel;
*Operations;
*Analysis & Information (formerly Intelligence Institute);
*Science;
*Operational Logistics & Support.

Each directorate is headed by a deputy director who reports to the SVR Director.  The Red Banner Intelligence Academy has been renamed the [[Academy of Foreign Intelligence]] (ABP are its Russian initials) and is housed in the Science Directorate.

==Involvement in Russian foreign policy==
During Boris Yeltsin's presidency, the SVR conflicted with the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] for directing Russian foreign policy. SVR director [[Yevgeni Primakov]] upstaged the foreign ministry by publishing warnings to [[Western world|the West]] not to interfere in the unification of Russia with other former Soviet republics and attacking the [[enlargement of NATO|NATO enlargement]] as a threat to Russian security, whereas foreign minister [[Andrey Kozyrev]] was requesting different things. The rivalry ended in decisive victory for the SVR, when Primakov replaced Kozyrev in January 1996 and brought with him a number of SVR officers to the foreign ministry of Russia.<ref name="Mitrokhin"/>

In September 1999, Yeltsin admitted that the SVR played a greater role in Russian foreign policy than the Foreign Ministry. It was reported that the SVR defined the Russian position on the [[Nuclear program of Iran|transfer of nuclear technologies to Iran]], [[NATO]] enlargement, and modification of the [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010411071829/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/BF06Ag02.html Whither Russian foreign intelligence?] By Victor Yasmann, ''[[Asia Times]]'', 6 June 2000</ref> The SVR also tried to justify [[Occupation of Baltic states|annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union in World War II]] using selectively declassified documents.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

=== Sanctions ===
Sanctioned in May 2023 by the [[United States Department of the Treasury]] pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being a political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the Government of the Russian Federation.<ref>{{cite web |title=With Over 300 Sanctions, U.S. Targets Russia's Circumvention and Evasion, Military-Industrial Supply Chains, and Future Energy Revenues |url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1494 |date=19 May 2023}}</ref>

==Operations==

===Espionage===
From the end of the 1980s, KGB and later SVR began to create "a second echelon" of "auxiliary agents in addition to our main weapons, illegals and special agents", according to former SVR officer Kouzminov.<ref name="Kuzminov"/> These agents are legal immigrants, including scientists and other professionals. Another SVR officer who defected to Britain in 1996 described several ''thousand'' Russian agents and intelligence officers, some of them "illegals" who live under deep cover abroad.<ref name="Mitrokhin">[[Vasili Mitrokhin]] and [[Christopher Andrew (historian)|Christopher Andrew]] (2000). The [[Mitrokhin Archive]]: The KGB in Europe and the West. Gardners Books. {{ISBN|0-14-028487-7}}.</ref>

Between 1994 and 2001, high-profile cases of Americans working as sources ('spies') for Russian agencies included those of [[Aldrich Hazen Ames]], [[Harold James Nicholson]], [[Earl Edwin Pitts]], [[Robert Philip Hanssen]] and [[George Trofimoff]]. They would be considered double agents because they were working for American intelligence agencies while providing information to Russia. They were not Russian 'illegals' however, because they were American citizens.

===Cooperation with foreign intelligence services===
An agreement on intelligence cooperation between Russia and China was signed in 1992. This secret treaty covers cooperation of the GRU GSh VS RF and the SVR RF with China's [[Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department]].<ref name="spies1">{{cite web|url=http://www.ncix.gov/issues/CI_Reader/Vol4/Vol4Chap2.pdf|title=PDF volume about SVR espionage activities| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710180138/http://www.ncix.gov/issues/CI_Reader/Vol4/Vol4Chap2.pdf |archive-date=10 July 2007 |publisher=Office of the [[Director of National Intelligence]]}}</ref> In 2003 it was reported that SVR RF trained [[Iraq]]i spies when Russia collaborated with [[Saddam Hussein]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Russia now admits training Iraqi spies / But it says intent was to fight crime, terror|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Russia-now-admits-training-Iraqi-spies-But-it-2621777.php|access-date=21 February 2014|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=17 April 2003|author=Robert Collier|author2=Bill Wallace}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afpc.org/rrm/rrm597.htm |title=Iraq's Russian Arms Buyer Headed Germ Warfare Program; Russian Spies Unmasked in London Financial System |publisher=AFPC.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607020522/http://www.afpc.org/rrm/rrm597.htm |archive-date=7 June 2007 }}</ref> The SVR also has cooperation agreements with the [[secret police]] services of certain former Soviet republics, such as [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Belarus]].<ref name="spies1" />

===Assassinations abroad===
{{see also|Category:People attacked in FSB or SVR operations}}
"In the Soviet era, the SVR – then part of the KGB – handled covert political assassinations abroad".<ref name="Littell"/> These activities reportedly continue.<ref name="Littell"/> It was reported in September 2003 that an SVR RF agent in London was making preparations to assassinate [[Boris Berezovsky (businessman)|Boris Berezovsky]] with a [[binary weapon]], which is why Berezovsky had been speedily granted asylum in Britain.<ref name="dissident">
[[Alexander Goldfarb (microbiologist)|Alex Goldfarb]] and Marina Litvinenko. ''[[Death of a dissident]]: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB'', The Free Press (2007) {{ISBN|1-4165-5165-4}}</ref> GRU officers who killed [[Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev]] in [[Qatar]] in 2004 reportedly claimed that supporting SVR agents let them down by not evacuating them in time, so they have been arrested by Qatar authorities.<ref name="Littell"/>

Former KGB agent [[Igor the Assassin]], who is believed to have been the poisoner of [[Alexander Litvinenko]] in 2006,{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} was allegedly an SVR officer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ocnus.net/cgi-bin/exec/view.cgi?archive=106&num=26989 |title=Russian Agency 'Led Poison Plot' |access-date=2007-06-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004314/http://www.ocnus.net/cgi-bin/exec/view.cgi?archive=106&num=26989 |archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref> However, SVR denied involvement in the [[poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko]]. An SVR spokesperson queried over Litvinenko remarked: "May God give him health."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=qw1164142262147B216|title=Independent Online (South Africa)|website=www.iol.co.za|accessdate=16 October 2022}}</ref> The SVR was reportedly involved in the likely assassination of Maxim Kuzminov.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dixon |first1=Robyn |last2=Korolchuk |first2=Serhii |last3=Ríos |first3=Beatriz |last4=Abbakumova |first4=Natalia |title=Bullet-riddled body found in Spain was Russian defector, Ukraine says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/20/spain-russia-ukraine-kuminov-assassination-defector/ |work=The Washington Post |date=20 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Russian Pilot Who Defected to Ukraine Is Believed Dead in Spain |work=The New York Times |date=20 February 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/world/europe/russian-pilot-maksim-kuzminov-spain.html |access-date=2024-04-05 |last1=Schwirtz |first1=Michael |last2=Méheut |first2=Constant }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine shot dead in Spain – reports |website=[[Reuters]] |date=19 February 2024 |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-pilot-who-defected-ukraine-shot-dead-spain-reports-2024-02-19/ |access-date=2024-04-05}}</ref>

===Special Operations Department of the SVR "Zaslon"===
[[:ru:Заслон (спецподразделение)|Zaslon]] ({{langx|ru|«Заслон»}}) is a special forces unit in the SVR which was created by secret decree on 23 March 1997, and reached operational readiness in 1998. Units were deployed to the Russian embassies in Iraq at Baghdad,{{efn|During the final days of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, Zaslon allegedly re-recruited Iraqi agents in foreign countries into Russian intelligence; provided embassy protection; removed the archives of Iraqi Intelligence, Iraqi counterintelligence, and Iraqi security servies; and was present to evacuate Russian diplomats, VIPs and documents to the Russian embassy at Tehran. Allegedly, Zaslon obtained documents which shed light on the volumes and channels by which Saddam financed pro Russia political parties and movements, as well as individual politicians. These documents would allow the Kremlin to manipulate pro Russia entities and individuals freely in the run-up to elections. If the pro Russia documents where in the hands of the Russian diplomats at its embassy in Baghdad with support from Zaslon, then the documents will already be on Russian territory if the situation in Baghdad deteriorated during the final days of Saddam Hussein's regime.<ref name=ZaslonNewsru>{{cite news |url=https://www.newsru.com/russia/28mar2003/iraq2.html |title=Спецотряды СВР "Заслон" прибыли в Багдад |trans-title=SVR special forces "Zaslon" arrived in Baghdad |language=ru |work=newsru.com |date=28 March 2003 |access-date=25 September 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905092412/http://www.newsru.com/russia/28mar2003/iraq2.html |archive-date=5 September 2012}}</ref>}} Iran and Syria at Damascus{{efn|Zaslon allegedly only reported to the Russian embassy in Damascus, Syria, located on Omar Ben Al-Khattab Street.<ref name=ZaslonGaleotti>{{cite web |last=Galeotti |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Galeotti |url=https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2015/09/26/russians-in-syria-zaslon-and-the-risks-of-going-native/ |title=Russians In Syria, Zaslon, and the risks of going native |work=In Moscow's Shadows |date= 27 September 2015|access-date=25 September 2024 |archive-date=25 September 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240925194710/https://web.archive.org/web/20180307211554/https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2015/09/26/russians-in-syria-zaslon-and-the-risks-of-going-native/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>}} to support protection of diplomats and other tasks.<ref name=ZaslonGaleotti/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.phantomreport.com/the-slavonic-corps-russian-mercenaries-fighting-in-syria |title=The Slavonic Corps – Russian mercenaries fighting in Syria |work=Phantom Report |date=16 November 2013 |access-date=28 November 2023 |archive-date=12 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212220450/http://www.phantomreport.com/the-slavonic-corps-russian-mercenaries-fighting-in-syria}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newsru.com/russia/28mar2003/iraq2.html# |title=Спецотряды СВР "Заслон" прибыли в Багдад |trans-title=Special forces of the Foreign Intelligence Service "Zaslon" arrived in Baghdad |language=ru |work=News.ru |date=28 March 2003 |access-date=28 November 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://vz.ru/news/2014/5/24/688286.html |title=Рогозин опубликовал фото с бойцами «Заслона» в Сирии: Вице-премьер России Дмитрий Рогозин, находящийся с визитом в Дамаске, опубликовал в соцсетях фотографию с бойцами группы СВР «Заслон». |trans-title=Rogozin published a photo with Zaslon fighters in Syria: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is on a visit to Damascus, published a photo on social networks with fighters from the Zaslon SVR group. |language=ru |work=vz.ru |date=24 May 2014 |access-date=28 November 2023 |archive-date=11 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911102455/https://vz.ru/news/2014/5/24/688286.html}}</ref><ref>[https://agentura.ru/profile/sluzhba-vneshnej-razvedki-svr/centr-specialnogo-naznachenija-svr/ Центр специального назначения СВР: Седьмой отдел Центра внутренней безопасности СВР или отряд спецназначения Заслон]</ref><ref>[https://dzen.ru/a/YSlXqxzhqWlIoWmK «Заслон»: на что способен самый секретный спецназ России]</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Grove |first=Thomas |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-said-to-redeploy-special-ops-forces-from-ukraine-to-syria-1445636834 |title=Russia Said to Redeploy Special-Ops Forces From Ukraine to Syria: Russian, Western officials say elite units being sent to support Assad forces |work=[[Wall Street Journal]] |date=23 October 2013 |access-date=25 September 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20161217183243/http://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-said-to-redeploy-special-ops-forces-from-ukraine-to-syria-1445636834 |archive-date=17 December 2016}}</ref> Zaslon was criticized following the [[Assassination of Andrei Karlov|19 December 2016 assassination]] in [[Ankara]] of [[Andrei Karlov]] who was the Russian ambassador to Turkey.<ref>{{cite news |last=Виграйзер |first=Александра (Vigraizer, Alexandra) |url=https://lenta.ru/articles/2016/12/22/zaslon/ |title=«Если все виноваты, то никто не виноват» Почему погибшего посла не охраняли: интервью бойца спецназа СВР «Заслон» |trans-title='If everyone is guilty, then no one is guilty' Why the deceased ambassador was not guarded: interview with a fighter of the SVR special forces 'Zaslon' |language=ru |work=«Лента.ру» |date=22 December 2016 |access-date=25 September 2024 |archive-date=25 September 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240925201743/https://lenta.ru/articles/2016/12/22/zaslon/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

===Disinformation===
{{See also|Russian disinformation}}
According to senior SVR officer [[Sergei Tretyakov (intelligence officer)|Sergei Tretyakov]], he often sent intelligence officers to branches of the [[New York Public Library]] where they gained access to the Internet without anyone knowing their identity. They placed [[propaganda]] and [[disinformation]] on educational websites and sent emails to US broadcasters.<ref name="Comrade J">Pete Earley, ''Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War'', Penguin Books, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-399-15439-3}}, pp. 194–195</ref> The articles or studies were generated by Russian experts who worked for the SVR.<ref name="Comrade J"/> The purpose of these [[active measures]] was to whitewash [[Foreign relations of Russia|Russian foreign policy]], create a positive image of Russia, promote [[Anti-Americanism|anti-American feelings]] and "to cause dissension and unrest inside the US".<ref name="Comrade J"/>

The SVR has been noted for multiple false disinformative official public statements. It claimed that the [[European Union]] (EU) was planning to use NATO forces to occupy [[Moldova]] after the [[2025 Moldovan parliamentary election]]. Specifically, the SVR stated that NATO forces were already present in [[Romania]] near [[Moldova–Romania border|the border with Moldova]], with the plan purportedly being to carry out a military landing near [[Odesa]] in [[Ukraine]]; no such intervention came after the election. The SVR also asserted that the [[2024–present Serbian anti-corruption protests|Serbian anti-corruption protests]] taking place at the moment were a EU plot for a "[[Euromaidan|Maidan]]" in [[Serbia]]. As for the [[2024–2025 Georgian protests]], it alleged that [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]'s Western partners were trying to carry out a [[colour revolution]] in [[Tbilisi]], that the United States was plotting a coup ahead of the [[2024 Georgian parliamentary election]] and that the EU was funding student protesters in the country.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://euvsdisinfo.eu/the-shadowy-svr-openly-pushes-disinformation-narratives/|title=The shadowy SVR openly pushes disinformation narratives|publisher=[[EUvsDisinfo]]|date=2 October 2025}}</ref>

==Recruitment==
The SVR RF actively recruits Russian citizens who live in foreign countries.
"Once the SVR officer targets a Russian émigré for recruitment, they approach them, usually at their place of residence and make an effort to reach an understanding," said former FSB officer [[Aleksander Litvinenko]].<ref name="Litvinenko">{{cite web|url=http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jid/jid021203_1_n.shtml|title=Defence & Security Intelligence & Analysis – IHS Jane's 360|access-date=16 May 2016}}</ref>

These claims have not been confirmed by the official SVR website, which states that only Russian citizens without dual citizenship can become SVR RF agents.

Russian intelligence no longer recruits people on the basis of Communist ideals, which was the "first pillar" of KGB recruitment, said analyst [[Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy]]. "The second pillar of recruitment is love for Russia. In the West, only Russian immigrants have feelings of filial obedience toward Russia. That’s precisely why [the SVR] works with them so often. A special division was created just for this purpose. It regularly holds Russian immigrant conferences, which [[Vladimir Putin|Putin]] is fond of attending."<ref name="Konstantin">[http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2006-28-15.cfm Interview with Konstantin Preobrazhensky ], 27 January 2006</ref>

==Notable Russian intelligence officers and agents==
* February 1994: [[Aldrich Hazen Ames]] was charged with providing highly [[classified information]] since April 1985 to the [[Soviet Union]] and then Russia. The information he passed led to the execution of at least 9 United States agents in Russia. In April, he and his wife pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit espionage and to evading taxes. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.<ref name="dss">{{Cite web
|url=http://www.dss.mil/training/espionage/Names.htm
|title=Espionage Cases 1975–2004
|access-date=19 February 2006
|author=Defense Personnel Security Research Center
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060204232607/http://www.dss.mil/training/espionage/Names.htm
|archive-date=4 February 2006
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

* November 1996: [[Harold James Nicholson]] was arrested while attempting to take [[Classified information|top secret]] documents out of the United States. He began spying for Russia in 1994. He was a senior-ranking [[Central Intelligence Agency]] officer. In 1997, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than 23 years in prison.<ref name="dss"/>
* December 1996: [[Earl Edwin Pitts]] was charged with providing [[Classified information|top secret]] documents to the Soviet Union and then Russia from 1987 until 1992. In 1997, he pleaded guilty to two counts of espionage and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.<ref name="dss"/>
* June 2000: [[George Trofimoff]], a naturalized US citizen of Russian parents, was arrested for spying for the [[Soviet Union]] and Russia since about 1969. Having retired as a colonel in the [[United States Army Reserve]], he was the highest-ranking military officer ever accused of spying. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.<ref name="dss"/>
* 1991: [[Vladimir Gruzdev]] joined the SVR. However, Gruzdev stayed in the service for only two years.<ref name="ассоциация">{{cite web |title=Груздев Владимир Сергеевич |url=http://alrf.ru/blog/html5-blank/gruzdev-vladimir-sergeevich/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315063242/http://alrf.ru/blog/html5-blank/gruzdev-vladimir-sergeevich/ |archive-date=2015-03-15 |access-date=2017-04-08 |publisher=Ассоциация юристов России}}</ref>
* October 2000: [[Sergei Tretyakov (intelligence officer)|Sergei Tretyakov]], an SVR officer working undercover at the Russian UN mission defected to the United States with his family.
* February 2001: [[Robert Philip Hanssen]] was arrested for spying for the Soviet Union and Russia for more than 15 years of his 27 years with the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]. He passed thousands of pages of classified documents on nuclear war defenses and [[Sensitive Compartmented Information]] and exposed three Russian agents of the United States, two of whom were tried and executed. He pleaded guilty to espionage and was sentenced to life in prison.<ref name="dss"/>
* June 2010: With the breakup of known parts of the [[Illegals Program]], 10 individuals who allegedly carried on deep-cover espionage activities were arrested by [[FBI]], and an eleventh was arrested while attempting to transit through Cyprus.  These individuals were purportedly working for the SVR on long term covert assignments in penetrating policy making circles in the United States government.  An agent going by the name of Christopher Metsos is still being sought by the authorities; the agents arrested on 28 June 2010 include Mikhail Semenko, Vladimir Guryev, Lidiya Guryev, Andrey Bezrukov, Yelena Vavilova, Mikhail Kutsik, Nataliya Pereverzeva, Mikhail Anatolyevich Vasenkov, Vicky Pelaez, and [[Anna Chapman]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/29/fbi-breaks-up-alleged-russian-spy-ring-deep-cover|title=FBI breaks up Russian spy ring in deep cover |work=The Guardian| location=UK|date=29 June 2010 | first=Chris | last=McGreal}}<br />{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65R5OU20100628?type=domesticNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews|title=U.S. arrests 10 for allegedly spying for Russia |publisher=Reuters|date=28 June 2010}}<br />{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/world/europe/29spy.html|title=US Charges 11 With Acting as Agents for Russia |work=The New York Times|date=28 June 2010 | first1=Scott | last1=Shane | first2=Charlie | last2=Savage}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/06/a_network_of_ru.html|title=Cambridge couple linked to alleged Russian spy network |work=Boston Globe |date=28 June 2010}}<br />{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/28/world/main6627737.shtml|title=Who were the alleged spies working for |work=CBS news|date=28 June 2010}}</ref> A twelfth man, Alexey Karetnikov, was deported later. They were revealed by SVR [[defector]] Deputy Head of illegal spies, Colonel [[Alexander Poteyev]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110627/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_us_spies |title=Russian officer guilty of betraying spy ring in US - Yahoo! News |access-date=28 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630211533/http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110627/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_us_spies |archive-date=30 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[Aldrich Ames]]
* [[List of awards of independent services of the Russian Federation#Foreign Intelligence Service|Awards of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia]]
* [[Ministerial awards of the Russian Federation#Foreign Intelligence Service|Awards of the SVR]]
* [[Cozy Bear]]
* [[Director of SVR]]
* [[FAPSI]]
* [[Central Intelligence Agency]]– American service with similar objectives
* [[Federal Protective Service (Russia)|Federal Protective Service]]
* [[Federal Security Service]] (FSB)
* [[First Chief Directorate]]
* [[GRU (Russian Federation)|Main Intelligence Directorate]]
* [[Ninth Chief Directorate]]
* [[Robert Hanssen]]
* [[Russian Foreign Services]]
* ''[[Spetsviaz|Spetssvyaz]]''
* [[United States government security breaches]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Riehle, Kevin (2022). [https://www.ni-u.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Riehle_Russian-Intelligence.pdf ''Russian Intelligence: A Case-Based Study of Russian Services and Missions Past and Present''], Washington, DC: National Intelligence Press. {{ISBN|978-1-932946-10-9}}

==External links==
* {{commonscatinline}}
* {{Official website|http://svr.gov.ru/}} {{in lang|ru}}

{{Russian intelligence community}}
{{External national intelligence agencies}}
{{National intelligence agencies in Europe}}
{{Government of the Russian Federation}}
{{Russia topics}}
{{Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)| ]]
[[Category:1991 establishments in Russia]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1991]]
[[Category:Russian intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Propaganda in Russia]]