The US is poised to take advantage of Vladimir Putin’s weakened grip on power by recruiting spies inside Russia, the head of the CIA has claimed.
CIA Director William Burns has argued that Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine is having a “corrosive” impact on Putin’s leadership.
Speaking at an annual lecture at the Ditchley Foundation in the UK, Mr Burns claimed that there is now a perfect opening for the CIA to collect intelligence in Russia.
His comments come a week after the attempted mutiny by the mercenary Wagner Group, a private military firm led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Mr Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia, said everyone had been “riveted” by Prigozhin’s “armed challenge” to Moscow.
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Prigozhin’s mercenary forces stormed towards the Russian capital in an effort to displace the current military leadership last Saturday. But they seemingly abandoned efforts on a dramatic day that ended with Prigozhin’s forced exile to Belarus.
The CIA director claimed that the recent challenge to the Kremlin will cause long-lasting damage that the spy agency can capitalise on.
Mr Burns said that these rebel actions were “a vivid reminder of the corrosive effect of Putin’s war on his own society and his own regime”.
He continued: “Disaffection with the war will continue to gnaw away at the Russian leadership beneath the steady diet of state propaganda and practiced repression.
“That disaffection creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us at CIA. We are not letting it go to waste…We are very much open for business.”
Back in May, the Kremlin warned that its agencies were tracking Western spy activity after the CIA published a video calling on Russians to make contact through a secure internet channel.
In a clip that made waves across Russian social media, the CIA said it wanted to hear from Russian military officers, intelligence officials, diplomats and others who have information on the Russian leadership.
Mr Burns, who was appointed CIA director in 2021, also argued that the occasional declassification of secrets during the war has backfired on Putin.
He said: “This has denied Putin the false narratives that I have watched him so often invent in the past, putting him in the uncomfortable and unaccustomed position of being on the back foot.”
But the spy boss still warned that Putin remains a dangerous man who “harbours great grievances, ambitions and insecurities”.
He said: “The one thing I have learnt is that it is a mistake to underestimate Putin’s fixation about controlling Ukraine and its choices.”
US intelligence agencies had reportedly been tracking the surging tensions between Prigozhin and the Russian military months ahead of the attempted mutiny.
They had allegedly briefed administration and congressional stakeholders about the potential for an armed rebellion before it was even launched.
Gen Mark Milley, the US’ highest ranking military officer, has said the US is giving Ukraine “as much help as humanly possible” to help with its “very difficult” counteroffensive against Russian forces.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington on Friday, he said: “This is going to take six, eight, 10 weeks, it’s going to be very difficult. It’s going to be very long, and it’s going to be very, very bloody. And no-one should have any illusions about any of that.”
