Reports: Russian Spy Chief Commends Work

Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:10 AM EST

MOSCOW MILLS — Russia's spy chief said Wednesday that his service has thwarted the work of nearly 100 foreign agents in the past year, and that the ex-Soviet Baltic nations have increased their espionage activity, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday.

The comments by Nikolai Patrushev, who heads the Federal Security Service, the main successor agency to the KGB, reflect an increasingly assertive — and public — presence of Russia's intelligence and security agencies, both at home and abroad.

They also follow public statements by officials in Britain and the United States singling out Russia and China as countries that are aggressively spying on sensitive Western facilities, intelligence systems and development projects.

Patrushev was quoted by RIA-Novosti, ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agencies as saying that foreign spies were mostly seeking information about Russia's political system, economic interests and foreign policy moves.

He mentioned few specifics, although he cited the case of a Russian military General Staff employee who was convicted of passing state secrets. The officer, Maj. Gen. Yevgeny Veselov, was dismissed two years ago for using soldiers to construct his country home.

"Foreign intelligence services, primarily in the Baltic nations, intensified their activities against Russia in 2007," Patrushev was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying. The three former Soviet republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are now members of NATO and the European Union.

Russian authorities also stopped "22 career officers and 71 agents of foreign special services" and four foreigners were deported for espionage, Patrushev was quoted by ITAR-Tass as saying.

Under President Vladimir Putin — himself a former KGB officer — Russian government officials have made more and more belligerent statements about the West's policies toward Russia. Moscow has singled out the United States and Britain in the past as posing a growing threat to Russia.