FBI director warns the number of Russian spies inside the US is still ‘way too big’

The number of Russian spies operating in the US is “still way too big,” despite the country’s best efforts to find and expel them, the FBI has warned.

“The Russian traditional counterintelligence threat continues to loom large,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said at an event at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC on Thursday.

“The Russian intelligence footprint — and by that I mean intelligence officers — is still way too big in the United States and something we are constantly bumping up against and trying to block and prevent and disrupt in every way we can.”

Some of the spies are “cut-outs,” or individuals who act as intermediaries between agents, Wray said, citing a Mexican national who was arrested by US authorities in 2020 and was accused of assisting with Russian intelligence efforts.

“If anybody needs a reminder of what Russia’s interests are, you can just look at what’s going on in Ukraine,” he added.

“And so, we never lose sight of the fact that these are the same people that are involved in unconscionable activity and aggression in Ukraine.”

Intelligence agencies have been grappling with Russian spies in the US since the days of the Cold War.

As tensions escalated in recent years, more and more spies have been discovered in the states.

In 2018, the US expelled 60 Russian diplomats whom authorities identified as intelligence agents, and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, as part of its response to Russia’s alleged use of a nerve agent to poison a former Russian spy living in the UK.

Last year, a Dutch intelligence agency also identified a Russian intelligence officer who had studied at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies – a graduate program favored by US military personnel, diplomats and future spies, according to CNN.

In April, US authorities also issued an indictment against four US citizens and three Russians accused of carrying out a “multi-year foreign malign influence campaign in the United States” on behalf of the Kremlin.

And just last month, US intelligence agencies warned that Chinese and Russian spies are targeting private American space companies, attempting to steal critical technologies and preparing cyberattacks aimed at degrading US satellite capabilities, the New York Times reported.

“Foreign intelligence entities recognize the importance of the commercial space industry to the US economy and national security, including the growing dependance of critical infrastructure on space-based assets,” the National Counterintelligence and Security Center warned.

“They see US space-related innovation and assets as potential threats, as well as valuable opportunities to acquire vital technologies and expertise.”

The NCSC advised space technology companies to track anomalous incidents on their computer networks to look for potential breaches, develop protocols to identify potential foreign agents inside their businesses, investigate potential investors and prioritize the protection of the most important intellectual properties.

Christo Grozev, an investigative journalist with Bellingcat, said he believes Russia’s spy chiefs have switched up how they worked since the invasion of Ukraine began.

“They lost so much of the capacity they had with spies under diplomatic cover,” he told The Guardian. “The short-term operatives they had from Unit 29155 are also now considered to be burned.”

Western intelligence agencies believe the unit was a top-secret GRU unit tasked with sabotage and attempted assassinations across Europe.

Its existence was uncovered when officials and journalists realized the GRU – Russia’s main intelligence agency – was providing 29155 operatives with passports issued in the same passport office, each with closely linked serial numbers.

The agents were rendered useless as a result, and Grozev said Russia has “had to activate their sleepers and when you do that, you risk much more disclosure.”

In his remarks on Thursday, FBI Director Wray said, “over the last several years, the US has made positive significant strides in reducing the size of the Russian intelligence officer footprint in the United States, kicking them out, in effect.”

But Grozev warned the recent disclosures of agents in western countries may only be the beginning, claiming he was already on the scent of others.

“I feel like I’m in a rabbit hole, discovering more and more stuff in places where I didn’t think I would find anything,” he told The Guardian.

Meanwhile, New York City has seen a surge in Russians moving to the Big Apple as they try to flee the ongoing war with Ukraine.

The number of Russians with cases in New York State Immigration Court — which rules on asylum/deportation cases — has skyrocketed 158% over the past year, data obtained by the Post reveals.

There were 3,098 cases involving Russian nationals in New York immigration court for the federal fiscal year covering Oct. 31, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2022.

As of Sunday, the number of asylum cases involving Russian nationals jumped to 8,002 for the current fiscal year running from Oct. 1, 2022 to this September 30.