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Putin Pulls Russian Spy Agency Out of Ukraine
Moscow Times ^ | 05/13/2022 | Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan

Posted on 05/13/2022 9:17:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Vladimir Putin has removed Russia’s biggest intelligence agency, the FSB, from its role as the primary spy agency for the war in Ukraine and handed responsibility to a heavily militarized branch of military intelligence, the GRU.

The new lead officer, Vladimir Alekseyev, the first deputy head of the GRU, is strongly implicated in several of Putin’s most serious attacks on the West over the past decade. He is accused by the U.K. and the European Union of overseeing the chemical weapons attack in Salisbury in 2018. An experienced special forces officer, he is also sanctioned by the U.S. for direct cyber interference in the U.S. 2016 election.

The public signal of the switch came last week, when the pro-Kremlin Tsargrad TV channel ran a story entitled, “Generals of victory: who is in charge of the Russian special operation?” The item suggested that these men would ensure the Russian military finally achieved its objectives in Ukraine.

Some of those named —like Gen. Alexander Dvornikov who was given overall command of the operation last month — were familiar to viewers, as were the heads of several military districts and major units. But there was one name that stuck out. Alekseyev was identified for the first time as the top general for intelligence on Ukraine.

The news marked a significant shift. Until now, Ukraine had been the responsibility of the Fifth Service of the FSB, the department which provided Putin with intelligence on Ukraine before the invasion. The disastrous start to the war, clouded by the pre-emptive publication by Western intelligence of highly secret plans as yet unrealized, and by the complete absence of popular uprisings by Russian speakers (which Putin was told would occur) cast a dark shadow over the department. Its boss, FSB general Sergei Beseda, was initially arrested

(Excerpt) Read more at themoscowtimes.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: putin; russia; spyagency; ukraine
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1 posted on 05/13/2022 9:17:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Footage released by Ukrainian forces appears to show several burnt out military vehicles and segments of a bridge partially submerged in a river in the Donbas region.

Read more here: https://t.co/rD9FNUqou6 pic.twitter.com/VXhZ2lnAc4— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 13, 2022


2 posted on 05/13/2022 9:20:14 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: SeekAndFind

No surprise. It seems like the FSB has performed very poorly in the conflict.

Thus, this news isn’t necessarily a good sign for the west. Because competent people could replace the FSB incompetents.


3 posted on 05/13/2022 9:21:03 AM PDT by AmericaFirst101
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To: AmericaFirst101

If they are truly competent, they will tell Putin to pack it up and leave Ukraine. There is no win there for Russia.


4 posted on 05/13/2022 9:25:38 AM PDT by DannyTN
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To: AmericaFirst101

The article is idiocy to start with. FSB is a domestic agency not dealing with foreign issues to start with.


5 posted on 05/13/2022 9:27:31 AM PDT by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking

Oh, ok.

I have read that the FSB fumbled the initial intel regarding the thrust into Kiev. But you would likely know more about that than I do.

Perhaps it should have been Russia’s “CIA” that was being discussed.

As you know, almost all of these NATO Nation articles are propaganda. I take all of them with massive grains of salt.


6 posted on 05/13/2022 9:32:31 AM PDT by AmericaFirst101
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To: SeekAndFind
The new lead officer, Vladimir Alekseyev ....

Seize his yacht if he doesn't perform.

7 posted on 05/13/2022 9:46:01 AM PDT by Mr Ramsbotham ("God is a spirit, and man His means of walking on the earth.")
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To: AmericaFirst101
competent people could replace the FSB incompetents.

So, why not use competent people in the first place. Putin used to run the FSB. He knows the staff.

8 posted on 05/13/2022 9:54:27 AM PDT by Poison Pill
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To: AmericaFirst101

“As you know, almost all of these NATO Nation articles are propaganda.”

It’s rather novel that you refer to NATO nations as something other than your nation and despite your account name of ‘America First’ you’ve issued a blanket denunciation of all American media as propaganda.

Because Russian media is so much more reliable? Izzat right?


9 posted on 05/13/2022 9:56:16 AM PDT by MercyFlush (The Soviet Empire is right now doing a dead cat bounce.)
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To: Poison Pill

From what I read, and Norse can correct me, the thought was that the Russian intel people (FSB or other) got fooled/scammed on what the setup was.

I think it was similar in WW2. The Axis got faked out on intel. Seems Russia may have suffered the same fate early on here.

I could be wrong. I read something on this, but can’t verify. And the piece was conjecture.


10 posted on 05/13/2022 9:57:26 AM PDT by AmericaFirst101
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To: AmericaFirst101

“AmericaFirst101 Since Apr 29, 2022”

Welcome to Free Republic.


11 posted on 05/13/2022 9:58:06 AM PDT by MercyFlush (The Soviet Empire is right now doing a dead cat bounce.)
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To: MercyFlush

It’s all propaganda, from all sides. NATO and Non NATO.

This piece just happens to be NATO Nation propaganda, I think.

War propaganda is the worst propaganda. Especially when two leaders involved (Johnson and Biden) are desperately trying to save their own political skin.

I’m a true-blue American. Love this nation. I don’t love supranational entities (NATO, UN, EU, etc) that have their own agendas and who don’t care about local people.

The elites have exploited Ukraine for years. Hunter Biden. The Big Guy. Victoria Nuland.

Plenty of blame on all sides here.


12 posted on 05/13/2022 10:00:22 AM PDT by AmericaFirst101
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To: MercyFlush

Thanks


13 posted on 05/13/2022 10:01:03 AM PDT by AmericaFirst101
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To: AmericaFirst101

I find the mention of “5th service” and allegedly “imprisoned for failure” Mr. Besedin particularly hilarious.
There is indeed 5th dept of FSB led by the above gentleman but it is a department dealing with formal contacts with alike foreign organizations, like reception of their delegations, handling international correspondence and so on. They aren’t operators who see any action.
The dim-wits making up stories like this are totally clueless and probably picked the department based on the word “international” in it, assuming it is connected to some foreign operations.


14 posted on 05/13/2022 10:01:36 AM PDT by NorseViking
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To: AmericaFirst101

“This piece just happens to be NATO Nation propaganda, I think.”

Really? You think the Moscow Times is NATO nation propaganda?


15 posted on 05/13/2022 10:03:26 AM PDT by MercyFlush (The Soviet Empire is right now doing a dead cat bounce.)
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To: NorseViking

Thanks Norse. I’ll be more skeptical of what I read in the future.

I think you know I’m pretty discerning in terms of the massive propaganda around this conflict. But I’ll have to be even a bit more careful in the future.

Appreciate the help.


16 posted on 05/13/2022 10:04:51 AM PDT by AmericaFirst101
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To: MercyFlush

Moscow Times is absolutely a liberal propaganda, a Russian version of NYT.


17 posted on 05/13/2022 10:05:56 AM PDT by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking

Yup, you’re right. большо́е спаси́бо!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moscow_Times


18 posted on 05/13/2022 10:08:36 AM PDT by MercyFlush (The Soviet Empire is right now doing a dead cat bounce.)
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To: MercyFlush

Yes. It’s banned in Russia because of it’s reporting on Ukraine. That is, Russia itself (the Kremlin) thinks it is NATO propaganda:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moscow_Times

“The newspaper launched its Russian-language service in 2020, however it was blocked in Russia in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.”

Norse could talk more about this. I believe Russians, or at least some in the Kremlin and the general populace, might view the Moscow Times as a “fifth column” entity.

I view them in their coverage of the Ukraine conflict in the way I might view the New York Times were they covering a war waged by the Trump Administration against a foreign adversary. The Times would be rooting for the Trump opponent, and would likely slant their coverage accordingly.


19 posted on 05/13/2022 10:09:49 AM PDT by AmericaFirst101
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To: AmericaFirst101

Curious, what do you consider a reliable source of information on the Russian war against Ukraine?


20 posted on 05/13/2022 10:11:20 AM PDT by MercyFlush (The Soviet Empire is right now doing a dead cat bounce.)
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