Putin Angrily Orders His Spooks to Do More to Weed Out ‘Traitors’
UNRAVELING
In a sign of just how badly Russia’s war against Ukraine seems to be going for Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader on Tuesday released a video message calling on security services to step up their efforts to weed out “traitors” and “saboteurs.” The message was intended to serve as Putin honoring members of Russia’s security services on the country’s widely celebrated “Security Services Day,” but he appeared visibly angry while delivering the remarks. “Maximum composure, concentration of forces is now required from counterintelligence agencies, including military intelligence,” Putin said. “It is necessary to severely suppress the actions of foreign special services, quickly identify traitors, spies, and saboteurs,” he said. His speech reportedly didn’t go over well with the Federal Security Service, where it was seen as a reprimand, according to Yellow Folder, a Telegram channel ostensibly run by former members of Russia’s Federal Protective Services. “Neither the leadership of the FSB, nor the FSO, nor the Security Council liked Putin’s ‘congratulations,’ practically everyone believes that they are already working with total efficiency, and they get reproaches in response, so sabotage is not far off,” the channel wrote.