CIA launches video campaign to recruit spies in Russia

Europe, News, US May 18, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is looking for Russians to spy against their own country. According to CIA officials, the war in Ukraine has provided an “unprecedented” opportunity for American intelligence to get in touch with disaffected Russians.

CIA posted a cinematic recruitment video on Telegram, a social media platform widely used around the world and particularly in Russia. The video provides details in the Russian language on how to contact the CIA in an encrypted way while keeping the identity hidden from Russian surveillance.

CIA’s newly created Telegram profile has roughly 7000 subscribers. Apart from Telegram, the recruitment message also appeared on the agency’s Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook pages reaching a wider Russian-speaking audience.

Officials working on the project say that a large number of Russian citizens oppose Putin’s war as it has directly affected their lives. These disaffected proportions of Russian citizens are the CIA’s main target audience. CIA officials also unveiled that they have been running recruitment drives in Russia that have been successful with several contacts coming in.

The cinematic video has a gray tone with cinematic shots and dramatic background music. It has been prepared to address Russian government officials and ordinary citizens alike. The message addressed the Russian intelligence officials by stating that “Do you have information about the economy or the top leadership of the Russian Federation? Get in touch with us”.

*^{A screenshot from a United States Central Intelligence Agency recruitment video aimed at recruiting Russians posted online on May 15, 2023. (Image Credit: CIA/Telegram)}*

The video message highlighted, “Perhaps the people around you don’t want to hear the truth. We want to”. The message in the video added that “Are you a military officer? Do you work in intelligence, diplomacy, science, high technology or deal with people who do?”. The video ended with both characters deciding to contact the CIA on their phones.

CIA’s efforts to recruit Russian spies coincide with Moscow’s efforts to recruit more soldiers for its ongoing war in Ukraine. According to the U.S. National Security Council spokesman, Russia has lost more than 100,000 soldiers in Ukraine since December last year. Last month, the Russian military started a nationwide campaign on social media platforms that asked young Russians to be “real men” and join the military forces.

In response to the CIA video, the Kremlin said on May 16 that its intelligence agencies are closely monitoring Western spy activity particularly after the release of the video that is encouraging Russians to make contact via a secure internet channel.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the CIA’s Telegram channel and other social media platforms have “a very convenient resource for tracking applicants.”

*^{A screenshot from a CIA recruitment video aimed at Russians posted online on May 15, 2023. (Image Credit: CIA/Telegram)}*

In November last year, CIA Director of Operations David Marlowe hinted at a project that would try to contact Russian citizens in order to gather intelligence and information on the Russia-Ukraine war. He said “We’re open for business” to Russians angry with the course of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The CIA pitch comes soon after the explosive leaks of classified Pentagon documents that contained sensitive information about the war in Ukraine and were based on a variety of sources including human intelligence. Based on major breaches of security leaks, the CIA is making new efforts to sustain confidence in its informants and spies working in Russia and other places around the world.