IT IS UNUSUALfor spymasters to taunt their rivals openly. But last month Bill Burns, the director of theCIA, could not resist observing that the war in Ukraine had been a boon for his agency. The remark might well have touched a nerve in Russia’s “special services”, as the country describes its intelligence agencies. Russian spies bungled preparations for the war and were then expelled from Europe en masse. But new evidence gathered by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a think-tank in London, shows that they are learning from their errors, adjusting their tradecraft and embarking on a new phase of political warfare against the West.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The return of Russia’s spies”
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur
It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice
The answer matters more than you think
Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young