Spies from Russia’s intelligence apparatus reportedly fooled Edward Snowden into seeking refuge in Moscow. Not only that, Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency had kept tabs on Snowden six years prior to Snowden’s spilling US secrets, Former KGB Major Boris Karpichkov told the UK’s Mirror.
The former KGB agent told the Mirror that Moscow believed Snowden was considered a highly plausible candidate for defecting from the United States in 2007. Russian intelligence had a file open on Snowden, but they did not act upon it until he fled to Hong Kong and dumped 1.7 million classified documents to select journalists. The SVR intelligence service then approached Snowden and successfully persuaded him that Russia was the best place to be well protected. He would shortly thereafter board a flight to Russia. “It was a trick, and he fell for it. Now the Russians are extracting all the intelligence he possesses,” said Karpichkov.
Karpichkov continued, saying that the Russian government purposefully leaked the information on the turncoats’ whereabouts in order to ensure the US cancelled Snowden’s passport, heavily restricting his ability to travel outside of Russia. The former Major estimated that Moscow will keep Snowden around for another few years to ascertain all of the remaining classified info gathered by the former CIA contractor.
Karpichkov explained that Russian intelligence couldn’t care less about Snowden’s revelations about how the NSA was snooping on foreign leaders’ communications. He said the SVR was more interested in American and British encryption and decryption methodology. “Codebreakers are the top targets of every secret service,” he said.
Sources told him that Snowden “lives in a block of flats in Moscow’s suburbs controlled by the FSB (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation).” He continued, “His flat is heavily alarmed to stop anything from happening to him. He meets the FSB twice a week over plenty of food and drink.” He added that Snowden will stay in Russia indefinitely until “they have got everything they want from him.”
Karpichkov fled Moscow in 1998 after serving in the Russian KGB, and its successor, the FSB. He now lives in Britain and has been granted asylum. Karpichkov believes he would be executed if he ever returned home.
Asked for his assessment of Snowden’s actions, Karpichkov said, “There is no doubt he has put Britain and America in grave danger.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.