Russia's spy rings wider under Putin (Nov. 17)

Massive Soviet machine still operating
Canada seen as `convenient location'
Nov. 17, 2006. 01:00 AM
MICHAEL MAINVILLE
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

MOSCOW—Far from disintegrating when the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia's vast international spy network remains in place and has flourished under President Vladimir Putin, an ex-KGB agent in East Germany.

"The massive Soviet spy machine Russia inherited continues to operate just as before," said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent security analyst in Moscow. "And in the years since Putin became president we've seen an increase in prestige and financing for the security and intelligence services."

Russia media last night widely reported the arrest in Canada of a possible agent of the country's Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, but there was no confirmation from authorities of Russian involvement.

Still, Felgenhauer said there is no doubt Russian spy agencies maintain activities in Canada, particularly in establishing false identities for operatives.

"Canada is a convenient location, not only for gaining access to the United States, but also for creating `legal' identities for Russian spies," he said. "Canada ... accepts a lot of people from abroad, so it's been seen as an effective place for such operations since Soviet times."

Before it fell apart in 1991, the Soviet Union created one of the largest spy networks in history, with hundreds of thousands of KGB agents working at home and abroad. After the Soviet collapse, the KGB was split, with SVR taking over foreign operations and the Federal Security Service (FSB) handling domestic intelligence gathering.

Russia's military intelligence agency (GRU) is believed by some experts to have even more extensive operations than SVR.

Thousands of operatives were thrown out of work in the early '90s, when Russia's economy was in chaos and public opinion was squarely against Soviet repressive measures. Attitudes have changed since Putin, who directed FSB for two years, took over from Boris Yeltsin in 1999.

"The people who came to power under Yeltsin saw us as ideological enemies. The first wave of democrats believed the forces of the KGB were the main danger to ... a new democratic society," Valentin Velichko, an ex-spy who leads the Veterans of Foreign Intelligence lobby, told the Star in 2004. "Thankfully, things have changed."

Russian spy budgets are classified, but Felgenhauer estimates that intelligence gathering is receiving at least five times more funding since Putin came to power. Last year, Timothy Bereznay, the top FBI counter-intelligence official, said Russian spying was growing and Russia still had the largest network of spies in the U.S.

Earlier this month, Putin inaugurated a new $360 million headquarters for the military's GRU in Moscow. Stretching over 70,000 square metres, it includes a shooting range, where Putin posed for media as he did some target practice.

Putin has surrounded himself with ex-KGB colleagues. One study shows 60 per cent of government officials are from the intelligence/security services.

Igor Sechin, deputy head of the presidential administration and chairman of state oil company Rosneft, is a Putin KGB comrade. On Wednesday, former KGB agent Valery Golubev was appointed deputy CEO of Gazprom, the state gas monopoly.

Felgenhauer said Russian spies are especially active in former Soviet republics.

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Michael Mainville is the Star's freelance correspondent in Russia.