Eerik Kross, former director of intelligence in Estonia has observed: “The numbers of Russian intelligence personnel in Western Europe are back to Cold War levels. … A basic rule of thumb, which counts for Russia nowadays, is to take the number of diplomats working in Russian embassies and consulates (abroad) and about half of them are spies. … Then consider another number – its network of covert agents working under non-diplomatic cover, such as businessmen, journalists, or lobbyists – and it’s about the same again.”
Active operations have taken priority over gathering information for Moscow. Influence operations – recruitment of agents in target institutions – are usually harder to detect and to prove.
(Rad more: Estonian Life No. 43 2019)
Laas Leivat, Toronto
