Richard Moore, the head of MI6, speaks to CNN at the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday 21 July. (CNN)
British spy chief Richard Moore has said Russia is “on the verge of running out of steam” in Ukraine, in an interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto.
“The Russians will find it increasingly difficult to supply manpower and material over the coming weeks. They will have to pause, and that will give the Ukrainians an opportunity to strike back,” Moore, the head of MI6, told the interview, his first outside the UK.
“(Putin) has suffered a strategic failure in Ukraine,” and forces have lost 15,000 lives, Moore said on the sidelines of the Aspen Security Forum, adding that “it’s probably a conservative estimate.”
However, Moore said it is very important for the morale of the Ukrainians to demonstrate their ability to fight back.
“It will be an important reminder to the rest of Europe that this is a campaign won by the Ukrainians. Because we are about to enter a pretty tough winter.”
“Winter is coming and obviously in this atmosphere with kind of pressure on the gas supply and everything else, we’re in a difficult time,” Moore added.
He said that after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, European countries have made a concerted effort against Russian intelligence.
“North of 400 Russian intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover have been expelled,” and it has halved Russia’s ability to spy in Europe.
Asked about rumors of Putin’s ill health, Moore said: “There is no evidence that Putin is suffering from a serious illness.”
His comments came after the expulsion of more than 400 Russian intelligence officers from European cities and the arrest of several undercover spies posing as civilians.
Moore told CNN that since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, European countries have expelled “north of 400 Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover” across the bloc.
“And we think that, in the UK, that has probably halved their ability to do their business of spying on Russia in Europe,” Moore said. He added that a number of “illegals”, or Russian spies who operate under deep cover and pose as ordinary civilians, have also been exposed and arrested in recent months.
Asked whether the war in Ukraine has made Russia a “target-rich environment” for Britain and its allies to recruit potential assets, Moore said only that “it is our hope” that Russian intelligence services ·intelligence and diplomats “reflect on what they are witnessing in Ukraine” and decide to “attack the system” as many did during the Prague Spring in 1968.
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