CIA tries to recruit Russian spies through social networks

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has released a video on social networks in an attempt to recruit Russian citizens dissatisfied with the war in Ukraine and life in Russia. With the excuse of helping to stop the conflict, the CIA is thus looking for new Russian confidants to help Washington.

The video is produced in cinematic format and was broadcast via the CIA's new Telegram channel. Telegram is a very popular network in Russia where unfiltered news is distributed. The video was also posted on other social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

As reported by CNN, CIA officials involved in the project said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has created a historic opening "for the Russians to come to us and give us information that the United States needs." The initiative follows a previous recruitment campaign after the launch of the invasion which, according to officials consulted by CNN, had some success.

Instructions for entering the 'Deep Web' and Russia's response

In order to ensure the anonymity of potential whistleblowers, the CIA provides instructions at the end of the video on how to use a secure browser, TOR, to access the Deep Web, as well as tools to encrypt information.

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that he is not aware of this CIA initiative. "Honestly speaking, we haven't looked into that yet. I have no information about it," Peskov said at a press conference. The Russian spokesman, however, recalled that the Russian intelligence services monitor these attempts of the CIA to recruit Russian citizens through social networks": I am convinced that the intelligence services adequately monitor this space, proceeding from the fact that the CIA and other Western intelligence services do not reduce their activities in our country".