British intelligence chief says Russian espionage cut in half

Russia’s espionage capabilities in Europe have been “half” diminished after the expulsion of at least 400 intelligence agents from several countries, Richard Moore, head of the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI-6) told CNN.

According to him, agents worked “under diplomatic cover” in countries, and several “illegal” or Russian spies operating under the guise of ordinary civilians have also been exposed and arrested in recent months.

Richard Moore also believes that Russian troops are in a moment of breathlessness at the need to replace missing soldiers, as well as having to face a Ukrainian counteroffensive with long-range weapons such as the Himars sent by the United States. States.

“Our assessment is that the Russians will make it increasingly difficult to supply strike material to the stock markets in the coming weeks,” he said. “They will have to take a break, which will give the Ukrainians an opportunity to fight.”

According to Moore, Ukrainians still struggle with “high morale” in the face of “increasing amounts of good weapons”.

“On the other hand, Russia has largely failed in its initial goals of taking Kiev and overthrowing the government,” he said.

War in Ukraine Focuses East and South

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov admitted this week that the country’s goals in Ukraine go beyond the achievements of the ethnically Russian-majority Donetsk and Lugansk in the Donbass region.

“Now the geography is very diverse. There are not only Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, but also the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and a number of other regions, and this process continues steadily and stubbornly,” Lavrov told Ria. said. -Novosti agency and RT channel, both are state-owned.

At the start of the war, in February, Russia even tried to conquer the capital, Kiev, but backed down in the face of Ukrainian resistance and focused on taking the entire Donbass, which has been the scene of separatist conflicts since 2014. .

However, Russian troops also control most of the Kherson province and are targeting neighboring Zaporizhzhia, which is crucial for creating a land corridor between the annexed Crimea and Donbass.