Vladimir Putin took away the role of the main spy agency in the war against Ukraine from the FSB. Now the GRU will deal with this task.. In particular, Vladimir Alekseev, First Deputy Head of the Directorate, was appointed responsible for the collection of intelligence data..

CEPA researchers Irina Borogan and Andrey Soldatov write about this in their report.. They note that Alekseev has been responsible for some of the most serious Russian attacks in the West in the last decade.. In particular, in the UK and the EU, he was accused of organizing a chemical attack in Salisbury in 2018.. The US also imposed sanctions on him for cyber interference in the 2016 US election campaign..

The first public mention of such changes was made on the air of the Tsargrad TV channel loyal to the Kremlin in a special program entitled “Victory Generals: who is responsible for the Russian special operation”? On the air, they talked about Russian military commanders who supposedly should finally achieve the fulfillment of their tasks in Ukraine. Some of them were already known to everyone.. For example, about General Alexander Dvornikov, who last month was assigned to command the entire war against Ukraine.. But Alekseev's name in this context has never been mentioned before..

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The authors note that this is an important change. Until that time, intelligence in Ukraine was carried out by the fifth service of the FSB.. It was she who provided Putin with data before the start of the invasion.. But the start of the war failed catastrophically. Western intelligence reveals Russia's secret plans. And the Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine did not support the Russian occupiers, although the FSB assured Putin of this. The head of the fifth service, Sergei Beseda, was arrested and thrown into the Lefortovo prison.

Alekseev belongs to a special type of Russian military intelligence officer. He started his career in the special forces, and not from work in one of the Russian embassies somewhere in the West. His task in the GRU was to manage the 14th directorate, which controls the " In 2011, Alekseev became the first deputy of the GRU. The promotion of such officers was a new approach introduced by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in 2012.. Alekseev and his entourage became the new face of management, which the minister wanted to expand and as soon as possible. But where to get the staff for the new GRU? Alekseev began to look for personnel among the special forces. They didn't have fine scouting skills. But they were tough fighters ready to kill.

Alekseev participated in Russian military operations in Syria, as well as in the Donbass. Other Russian officers say he is cruel and recklessly overconfident. His appointment to a new role in the war against Ukraine comes amid mysterious and unexpected news about Besed.. Having lost the loyalty of the Kremlin, he became a convenient scapegoat in Moscow. The military and even other departments of the FSB accused Beseda and his people of misinforming Putin, which laid the foundation for the military failure.. Large sums allocated for bribing people in Ukraine were stolen. There were reports that Beseda was locked up for many years in solitary confinement at Lefortovo, where Stalin once held his repressed fellow party members..

But two weeks ago, pro-Kremlin media reported that Beseda was seen attending the funeral of KGB General Nikolai Leonov.. He even made a speech. At the same time, the press called him the current head of the fifth service of the FSB.. Although there were no photos in the publications. The purpose of such information stuffing is obvious - to downplay or even dispel the news about the fall of Beseda. The authors note that they turned to their sources in the Russian special services. It turned out that Beseda was seen in his office on the Lubyanka. It was amazing and completely unprecedented.. Unless Stalin could throw his generals into prison, and then get them out of there.

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However, the authors note that there is a certain logic in such behavior of the Kremlin.. Putin insists war against Ukraine is going according to plan. So he needs to act accordingly. His audience is not propaganda-controlled society, but Russian elites. These are bureaucrats in the capital and beyond, including the army and special services. In private conversations, they began to question Putin's strategy. Therefore, he needs to convince them that everything is really going " The conclusion of the main spy who dealt with Ukraine says otherwise. This is confirmation that Russian intelligence has failed.. Therefore, Putin is trying to pretend that nothing happened to Beseda.. However, the fact that the head of the fifth service of the FSB again goes to his office does not mean that Putin trusts him or the FSB as a whole.. And the appointment of Alekseev clearly states this.