MOSCOW, September 30. /TASS/. Russia’s foreign intelligence service during the period of the special military operation in Ukraine is focused, among other things, on obtaining information that will help Russian military personnel on the battlefield, SVR Director Sergey Naryshkin said while answering media questions on the sidelines of a meeting of the CIS countries’ security service chiefs in Moscow on Friday.
"The task of the foreign intelligence is to obtain information crucial to the top political leadership in making the most important foreign policy decisions. This task remains relevant in relation to the crisis on the territory of Ukraine. We, of course, are making certain adjustments to our work. Along with obtaining strategic information are also focused on gathering operative and tactical information, which would help our military achieve victory on the battlefield," Naryshkin said.
He recalled that "the same adjustments were made to the operation of the country’s foreign intelligence in other periods of our history." During World War II the Soviet foreign intelligence was also tasked with obtaining information about the Wehrmacht’s operations and plans. It was for a good reason that Soviet intelligence agent Kim Philby believed that his main achievement was the information he obtained about the Wehrmacht's plans to conduct Operation Citadel - the Battle of Kursk, which helped the Red Army’s command achieve victory.