Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Federal Security Service" in English language version.
Back in 1992 Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, signed a deal with Ukraine and neighbouring states not to spy on them. That left the way open for the FSB which grew in power, particularly after its head in the late 1990s, Vladimir Putin, became Russia's leader. The SVR and military intelligence, the GRU, both still operate in Ukraine but the FSB leads on intelligence and influence operations.
But Russian military analyst Igor Sutyagin ...told the BBC that the FSB got its social analysis of Ukraine wrong in 2013-2014...The FSB had told Mr Putin that Ukrainians were "just waiting for him to liberate them from the 'fascists'," he said.
The report cites two cases documented by the UN Human Rights Office in 2016, when pro-Ukrainian supporters were allegedly compelled by FSB officers to confess to terrorism-related crimes through torture with elements of sexual violence.
In a post in Russian on its official website, the intelligence arm of the Ukrainian defence ministry listed people it said were FSB employees registered at the agency's headquarters in Moscow.
The FSB unit that conducts foreign political analysis -- the Ninth Directorate of the Fifth Service – commissioned public opinion polls in Ukraine earlier in February, weeks before the war...The surveys suggest that Ukrainians' main concerns prior to the war were mundane things: food prices, energy prices, corruption.
The KGB's Fifth Service had been responsible for counterintelligence in the territories of the former Soviet Union. When the KGB became the FSB in the 1990s, and these territories became independent states, the Fifth Service transitioned into an intelligence agency targeting Russia's neighbours. Its Department for Operational Information is responsible for compiling data on Russia's 'near abroad'
The most concerning development to Ukraine is the expansion of FSB resources targeting Ukraine. Within the FSB's Fifth Service, run by Colonel General Sergei Beseda, the Department for Operational Information has teams dedicated to most of the 'territories' of the former Soviet Union. Most teams comprise 10–20 personnel. In July 2021, the Ukraine team of the FSB Fifth Service was expanded to form the 9th Directorate comprising around 200 officers.
The Russian military had been using an encrypted communication system called 'Era' to communicate with commanders and fellow soldiers to prevent eavesdropping. Since the 3G/4G towers needed for Era to operate have been destroyed, Ukrainian intelligence has intercepted phone calls, including one made by a Federal Security Service (FSB) field officer informing officials in Russia of the death of Major General Vitaly Gerasimov.
Beseda was wanted by Ukraine for questioning in the aftermath of the anti-Russian Maidan revolution in February 2014, believing he was part of a failed attempt to take control of violent efforts to suppress the popular protests. Moscow said he was present to help ensure the protection of the Russian embassy during a time of uncertainty.
'In the call, you hear the Ukraine-based FSB officer ask his boss if he can talk via the secure Era system. The boss says Era is not working...Era is a super expensive cryptophone system that [Russia's defence ministry] introduced in 2021 with great fanfare.'
Since 2014, the agency had spent a lot of time and resources on attempts to foment unrest in western Ukraine among far-right groups, which ultimately came to nothing, Soldatov said. Their assessments of popular support among Ukrainians for a Russian invasion and the extent to which the country would resist were also 'terribly miscalculated'.
Chechen fighters loyal to the Kremlin are being betrayed by Russian spies who are leaking their whereabouts to Ukrainian forces, an aide to President Zelensky has claimed. Aleksei Arestovich said that the FSB was 'quietly passing on' information about the movements of Chechen units.
The names and addresses of 620 people who are said to be FSB officers were published yesterday in what Kyiv said was a huge data breach of the Russian security agency...As well as names and addresses, the list includes details of agents' cars such as their numberplates, their phone numbers and dates and places of birth.
A Russian spy chief is said to have been placed under house arrest in a sign that President Putin is seeking to blame the security services for the stalled invasion of Ukraine.
A report thought to be by an analyst in the FSB, the successor agency to the KGB ... said the FSB was being blamed for the failure of the invasion but had been given no warning of it and was unprepared to deal with the effects of crippling sanctions.
In U.S. and European intelligence circles, the FSB's reputation stands in contrast to the ruthless, cunning reputation of its predecessor, the KGB. Several current and former officials described the Russian security service as rife with corruption, beset by bureaucratic bloat and ultimately out of touch. A Ukrainian intelligence official said the FSB had spent millions recruiting a network of pro-Russian collaborators who ultimately told Putin and his top advisers, among them the current FSB director, what they wanted to hear: The central government in Kyiv wouldn't hold and resistance would collapse.
A U.S. official described as credible reports that the commander of the FSB intelligence agency's unit responsible for Ukraine had been placed under house arrest. The official, in an interview, also said bickering had broken out between the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Defense, two of the principal government units responsible for the preparation of the Feb. 24 invasion.
