An elite Federal Security Service (FSB) unit has actually led a sweeping project of wartime monitoring, intimidation and arrests of Russians and foreigners amid heightened stress with the West, the Wall Street Journalreported Friday.The FSBs Department for Counterintelligence Operations (DKRO), formerly identified by WSJ as leading the March 2023 arrest of its reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges, has a long history of targeting Americans.
Developed in 1998, DKRO at first focused on monitoring U.S.
investors, journalists and visitors who flooded into Russia after the Soviet Unions collapse.During Vladimir Putins early presidency, DKRO apparently placed informants in the Moscow bureaus of U.S.
media outlets and bugged American diplomats, especially after large-scale protests versus Putins rule swept Moscow in 2012.
Gershkovich, whose reporting throughout his 16-month detention helped shed light on DKROs activities, wrote that the system has played a central role in numerous projects considering that Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
After the FSB won an internal power struggle over blame for the invasions early failures, DKRO apparently led a purge within the Russian Defense Ministry, resulting in the arrests of dozens of senior officials on fraud charges.
Previously this year, Putin replaced former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in part due to DKROs efforts, according to the report.DKRO likewise ramped up arrests of U.S.
residents after being tasked with protecting the release of founded guilty gunman Vadim Krasikov from Germany.
According to WSJ, Gershkovich and former U.S.
Marine Paul Whelan were detained as trade bait.Lt.
Gen.
Dmitry Minaev, DKROs head, was said to have actually personally escorted political detainees throughout the Aug.
1 East-West prisoner exchange, that included Krasikov.
Minaev plays a direct role in selecting Americans for arrest and figuring out which Russians to trade for them, WSJ reported, mentioning U.S.
and European intelligence sources.Likewise, Lt.
Gen.
Vladislav Menschikov, head of the FSBs First Service supervising DKRO, reportedly briefs Putin directly on operations such as Gershkovichs arrest.Domestically, DKRO was said to have ordered the arrests of hundreds of Russians on charges of espionage, collaborationism and treason.
Gershkovich said FSB private investigators informed him they needed to double their personnel to deal with the rise in such cases.Despite DKROs extensive operations, none of its approximated 2,000 officers who oversee a large network of workers across Russia and enjoy substantial opportunities are known to have actually defected to the West, U.S.
and European officials told WSJ.