Czech Republic uncovers a network of Russian Special Service agents
The Security Information Service of the Czech Republic, also called Bezpečnostní Informační Služba or BIS, announced that in the last five years they have exposed dozens of Russian and Chinese spies. BIS Director Michal Koudelka said that BIS have also uncovered an entire espionage network belonging to Russian Special Services.
“We had an extremely successful period of cooperation with Czech security forces and foreign partners,” he stated. According to the Director of the Czech Security Service, they have prevented and stopped the activities of “dozens of Russian and Chinese intelligence officers” or else recommended denying them accreditation or expelled them using so-called “silent methods.”
In the beginning of this year, the BIS reported that “they have successfully exposed a network of one of the Russian special services and fully paralyzed the network’s activities.”
Koudelka brought up the three diplomats that were expelled from the country as a joint response of European countries to the poisoning of former Russian spymaster Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England. Koudelka said the expelled Russians were officers of Russian Intelligence working in the Czech Republic “under diplomatic cover.”
Koudelka also spoke about the agency’s contribution into the fight against terrorism. “According to Israeli and American colleagues, we are one of the most effective services in Europe,” he noted.
The previous BIS report disclosed the Russian hacker attacks against the Foreign and Defense Ministries of Czech Republic. “The Czech Republic remains a target for Russia’s actions that are part of its hybrid warfare strategy against NATO and the EU,” the Czech Security Service noted.