MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Washington is seizing every opportunity to stir up unrest and disrupt the domestic political situation in Russia ahead of voting in the presidential election on March 15-17, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin said.
"It is clear that, on the eve of the presidential election in Russia, the Americans are seizing the slightest opportunity to stir up unrest [and sow disorder] in the domestic political situation in our country," the SVR press service quoted Naryshkin as saying.
He explained that, according to information obtained by the SVR, as the Russian presidential election approaches, the US government is "devising more and more sophisticated means of illegally interfering in [our] democratic processes."
Thus, US structures intend to intensify their work with graduates of American exchange programs to create the core of a fifth column in Russia before the presidential election, Naryshkin pointed out. "According to the calculations of the State Department, the number of Russian holders of scholarships from American educational and cultural programs, such as Access, Advance, FLEX, Fulbright, Global UGRAD, Summer Work and Travel and others, is over 80,000 people," the foreign intelligence chief said. "Given the proper processing, or so the Americans believe, these [graduates] are capable of replacing the non-systemic opposition, which has fled en masse to the West, to become the core element of the [new] fifth column," he noted.
According to Naryshkin, Washington is stepping up efforts to restore contacts with such Russian citizens and establish confidential communications with them. "In the future, plans call for transitioning to the active involvement of former [participants in US educational exchange programs] in the political struggle with the Russian authorities. A program for carrying out such activities is already in the works," he emphasized.
Training abroad
Naryshkin also pointed out that such plans include holding relevant training sessions in neighboring countries, with the main emphasis on "training participants in methods of inciting ethnic and social hatred, interfering in elections, and discrediting the Russian leadership on social networks," with special attention at such meetings "paid to issues regarding secure practices for communicating with American handlers."
"Washington also hopes to involve [former participants in US educational exchange programs] in the preparation of new mechanisms for applying sanctions pressure on Russia. The first such workshop is scheduled for February 16-18, 2024 in Riga. The role of ‘mentors’ will be played by US intelligence officers working at the US embassies in Moscow and Riga under the cover of diplomatic posts. It will not be very difficult to ascertain the composition of the trainees," the foreign intelligence chief underscored. "Obviously, the time is not far off when the State Department will recruit students from [foreign-based] Anglo-American kindergartens and schools," he added.