MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has urged officers of the country’s military intelligence service known as the GRU to “sharpen their skills” amid new threats to Russia’s security and national interests.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) marks its 96th anniversary.

In a congratulatory telegram, Medvedev marked that the situation in the world remains complicated with “a new configuration of global and regional security being drawn up and new threats to Russia’s national interests and security of citizens emerging.

“All these circumstances demand a flexible and preventive reaction and prompt detection of hotbeds of potential threat. This means further sharpening of GRU’s work including by exact coordination of special services and agencies,” Medvedev said.

Medvedev congratulated Russia’s intelligence veterans and also personnel who are currently working abroad. “I thank you for honorable service, loyalty to the oath and duty. I am sure that you will continue acting as reliably and consistently as a single team,” the telegram reads.

The Red Army's Field Staff Registration Directorate, a predecessor to the GRU, was established on November 5, 1918, marking a new benchmark in the activity of the country's intelligence services.