The killing of Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops, outside his building in Moscow on Tuesday, along with his aide, is the latest blow in the intensifying war between Kiev and Moscow, which are being waged far from the front lines by their powerful state intelligence agencies. agencies, successors to the spy services of the Soviet Union, with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) being the direct successor to the KGB.
Operating behind enemy lines, these agencies have targeted military officials and politicians, sabotaged energy infrastructure and rail systems, and used hybrid warfare tactics, including cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns, to wreak havoc within each other's borders, according to the Financial Times. sides.
In Ukraine, the often controversial SBU, whose reform has long been called for by the United States and other allies of Kiev, is further motivated by competition in the form of a military intelligence directorate known as GUR. Because of its operations, the SBU has become known as the "liquidator of the Russians," a source from intelligence circles told the FT.
An SBU official confirmed that his agency was responsible for Kirilov's death, calling him a "war criminal" who "ordered the use of banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian army." He warned: "Such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians."
The SBU mainly operated within Ukraine, but since the beginning of the conflict with Russia and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, it has also been operating in the territories of Ukraine controlled by the Kremlin, as well as within Russia itself. After Moscow launched the invasion in 2022, the SBU attacked the Crimean Bridge and destroyed a large part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet using naval drones.
With more than 30.000 employees and even more "off the books" operatives, the SBU is almost as large as the FBI, which has 35.000 agents. The SBU is more than seven times the size of Britain's MI5 and more than four times the size of Israel's Mossad.
The British paper's source cited several assassinations of pro-Russian separatist leaders in the Moscow-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions between 2014 and 2021 by agents of Kiev.
Another intelligence official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that SBU agents operated within Russia's borders, but also recruited Russians opposed to Kremlin policies to carry out sabotage and even assassinations. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced yesterday that it had arrested a suspect in the murder of Kirilov.
The suspect is an Uzbek, who admitted that under the instructions of the SBU, he planted and activated the bomb that killed Kirilov in Moscow. The suspect, who is believed to have been born in 1995, said in a video released by Russian authorities that he remotely activated the explosive device when Kirilov left the building. As reported by the Reuters agency, he said that Ukraine offered him 100.000 dollars and a residence permit in a European country.
The SBU has become a key instrument for Kiev as it battles Russia on multiple fronts. Russia is struggling to counter its efforts, said Andrey Soldatov, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. “The FSB is very good at investigating what has already happened, but not particularly adept at gathering intelligence about what is to come. It's a different skill set,” he said.
Valentin Nalivaichenko, a lawmaker who twice headed the SBU, said the spy agency "gathered a lot of counterintelligence information and data" about Russia's military and intelligence leadership. The SBU has found ways to infiltrate informants, breach communications inside enemy territory, and identify weaknesses in the Russian intelligence network.
The SBU owes its effectiveness in part to its size, which is the result of its Soviet legacy. When Ukraine gained independence in 1991, the SBU inherited many of the structures, resources and responsibilities of the KGB, and this has never changed.
With more than 30.000 employees and even more "off the books" operatives, the SBU is almost as large as the FBI, which has 35.000 agents. The SBU is more than seven times the size of Britain's MI5 and more than four times the size of Israel's Mossad.
The SBU rarely publicly takes credit for assassinations, the FT points out, and reminds that in August 2022, that agency planted a bomb in a car belonging to the Russian ultra-nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and an advocate of the war in Ukraine. However, Dugin was not driving, at the wheel was his daughter Darja Dugina, who was killed when the bomb exploded.
The work of the SBU was often controversial. She engaged in surveillance of investigative journalists and activists who reported on alleged corruption within her ranks, and faced numerous embezzlement scandals. "The SBU has enormous power - and some would say too much power," a Western diplomat told the Financial Times.
The diplomat stated that the agency has been resistant to major reforms for years, despite calls from Ukraine's biggest ally, the USA, as well as other members of the G7 and EU countries.
However, amid the war with Russia, those Western countries have put aside some objections and strengthened ties and intelligence sharing. The agency has developed a particularly close relationship with the CIA, which has invested millions of dollars in training programs for Ukrainian agents.
The SBU has come a long way since late February 2014, when it was devastated by former President Viktor Yanukovych after the Maidan revolution. Before fleeing, Yanukovych ordered a raid and search of agency premises, with his operatives stealing key state secrets and burning what they couldn't take out in cars and helicopters.
Large numbers of agents left the SBU during the spring and summer of that year, when Russia annexed Crimea and took control of cities in eastern Ukraine.
As the new director of the SBU at the time, Nalivaichenko inherited a disunited agency filled with spies loyal to the Kremlin. Thousands of agents were suspected of collaborating with Russia. A purge ensued, during which the authorities arrested dozens of their spies and launched investigations into treason.
"We started from scratch, from burnt operational files in the yard of the SBU," Nalivaichenko said, adding that Kiev brought in younger, patriotic agents.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion almost three years ago, hardly a month has gone by without the news that SBU operatives have liquidated some Russian official involved in the war effort.
Last month, the SBU claimed credit for killing Valery Trankovsky, chief of staff of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet's 41st Missile Brigade, in a car explosion in occupied Crimea.
However, there are situations where credit is taken by a sister agency, the military intelligence directorate known as GUR. Under the supervision of its mysterious boss Kirill Budanov, this unit also conducts covert operations and assassinations far behind enemy lines.
Although the two agencies compete with each other for prestige, they occasionally cooperate, the FT points out.
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