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The head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service has said Russia has halved its ability to spy on Europe, after expelling more than 400 Russian intelligence officers from cities across Europe and arresting several undercover spies posing as civilians. .
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, European countries have expelled “north of 400 Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover” across the bloc, said Richard Moore, head of MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence service.
“And we think that probably halved their ability to go about their business of spying for Russia in Europe,” Moore said.
A number of Russian “illegals” or spies operating under deep cover and masquerading as ordinary civilians have also been exposed and arrested in recent months, he added.
Asked whether the war in Ukraine has made Russia a “target-rich environment” for the UK and its allies to recruit potential assets, Moore said only that “it is our hope” that Russians in the intelligence and diplomatic services “will reflect on what they are witnessing in Ukraine” and decide to “strike against the system” as many did during the Prague Spring in 1968.
“Our door is always open,” he said.
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