CIA Director William Burns said in July that some Russians’ dissatisfaction with the war in Ukraine creates a rare opportunity to recruit spies, Reuters reports.
The video, published on the CIA’s official social media channels, seeks to appeal to patriotic Russians working in intelligence agencies who may feel betrayed by the corruption of elite circles and the poor equipment of the Russian military.
“People around you may not want to hear the truth. We want,” the video says, before outlining how to contact the intelligence agency.
According to an anonymous CIA official, increased support for the Russians is seen as a result of such videos. Reuters could not independently confirm the claim.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the video published by the CIA: “You know, this practice is quite common, intelligence agencies around the world very often use the media and social networks to recruit new employees. And they do it all the time, the CIA does it every year.”
The CIA shared the video on Facebook, X and Telegram, the latter a popular messaging app in Russia.
Peskov argued that the CIA was wasting its time trying to reach the Russians through Xi. The social media platform is banned in Russia and can only be accessed via a virtual private network (VPN), many of which are also banned.
“Someone needs to tell the CIA that VKontakte is much more popular in our country than the banned X. And VKontakte has a much larger audience,” Peskov said.
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2024-01-23 19:29:56
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