Putin Orders Intensified Hunt for ‘Traitors, Spies, Saboteurs’ - The Moscow Times

President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s counterintelligence services connected Tuesday to measurement up their hunt for “traitors, spies and saboteurs” and forestall threats from abroad.

Speaking connected Security Agency Worker’s Day, a nonrecreational vacation successful Russia, Putin laid retired “high demands” connected Russia’s information agencies to respond to “new threats and challenges.”

“You indispensable put a steadfast halt to the activities of overseas peculiar services, and to promptly place traitors, spies and saboteurs,” helium said, addressing authorities and subject counterintelligence arsenic Russia's warfare successful Ukraine entered its 300th day.

Putin urged the Federal Security Service (FSB) and National Anti-Terrorism Committee to jointly instrumentality “special control” implicit strategical facilities similar transport and vigor infrastructure.

To forestall risks from abroad, Putin ordered the FSB Border Guard Service to “step up” the surveillance of authorities borders.

The Kremlin has formed itself arsenic a “besieged fortress” successful a geopolitical standoff with the West passim its penetration of Ukraine.

Russia's occidental regions which borderline Ukraine person regularly reported cross-border attacks connected their territory, including connected captious infrastructure, since the penetration started connected Feb. 24.

In his televised code Tuesday, Putin made the rare admission that the concern successful the Russian-occupied regions of eastbound and confederate Ukraine is “extremely complicated.”

“The radical who unrecorded there, Russian citizens are counting connected you and your protection,” helium said, addressing the employees of the FSB, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Federal Guard Service, and the Chief Directorate for Special Programs of the 4 regions helium claimed to person annexed successful September.

“Today’s rapidly changing planetary concern and the emergence of caller threats and challenges enforce precocious demands connected the full strategy of Russia’s information agencies,” Putin said. 

“This means that you request to importantly amended your enactment successful cardinal areas, and usage your operational, method and unit imaginable to the fullest.”