Putin demanded the FSB to reveal terrorists' contacts with foreign intelligence services

24 February 2021

 

Foreign intelligence services can use terrorists for their own purposes, and special attention must be paid to identifying these contacts. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this on Wednesday at a meeting of the Federal Security Service board.


"I ask that special attention be paid to uncovering contacts between terrorist groups and foreign intelligence services," Putin said, noting that "everything is being used, terrorists are also being used."


He stressed that the terrorist network in Russia is trying to restore its activity. "Therefore, it is important not only to identify and eliminate terrorist cells, including so-called sleeper cells, deeply hidden but also to analyze and predict the situation in general," the president said.


Putin said the country managed to suppress the activities of 72 personnel officers and more than 400 agents of special services of other states in 2020. "The activities of 72 personnel officers and 423 agents of foreign secret services were suppressed," the Russian leader said.


Preventing crimes


According to the president, Russia prevented 72 terrorist crimes in 2020. Putin called terrorism the most acute and dangerous threat, the fight against which requires constant focus and calibrated proactive operational actions. "In 2020, 72 terrorist crimes were prevented, a quarter more than a year earlier: [in 2019] there were 57," the head of state said.


According to him, this shows that "in the vast majority of cases, criminal plots can be uncovered at the stage of their preparation, thereby saving the lives and health of people." The president urged the FSB to work of similar quality in the future.


Putin called the destruction of the last organized bandit group that committed crimes in Chechnya and Ingushetia in December 2020 an extremely important result. He also noted the work on "long-range approaches," including attacks on terrorists in Syria. The head of the state expressed his gratitude to all those who participated and are participating in these operations.


Terrorist challenges and threats are not getting any smaller, the president said. "We see that the level of global challenges, such as terrorism, cross-border crime, cybercrime, is not decreasing," the head of state said.


Putin emphasized that the issues of state security and protection of citizens from internal and external threats are constantly in the focus of the country's leadership and remain a priority.


The Russian leader emphasized that this year's FSB panel is held not in an enlarged format, as before, but in a shortened format. " But it does not reduce the importance of our event today, unfortunately, these are the requirements of the current epidemiological situation," Putin said, referring to all the employees of the service. He thanked the FSB officers for their professional and precise work, readiness to solve all tasks in non-standard conditions without reference to the current circumstances.


New approaches to cybersecurity


Ensuring cybersecurity of Russia requires new approaches, Putin is convinced.


"New approaches are required to ensure cybersecurity, the global digital space has already become a field of very tough geopolitical rivalry," the head of state said. "Last year, only the number of so-called most dangerous attacks on Russian information resources, including government and government resources, increased by almost 3.5 times," he said.

 

 

GSV "Russia - Islamic World"

Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation

Based on materials from TASS