‘We understand you, better than you think’: CIA posts video on Telegram to recruit Russian spies

The Central Investigative Agency has launched a Telegram channel to publish a new video so it can reach out to disgruntled Russians in a bid to recruit them as spies. The target audience of the video and the channel as a whole are Russians who do not approve of Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. It also urges citizens to spill the secrets of the government.

This is so so so good! 👏

P.S. Putin already believes 🇺🇸 is doing it, so I’m glad to see the CIA is unapologetically sharing this video on social media.

This should also be uploaded on Telegram and VK. https://t.co/QoTg7QKShr

— Ivana Stradner (@ivanastradner) May 16, 2023

The intelligence agency chose Telegram to fulfill its purposes because of the app’s popularity among Russians seeking unfiltered news. What does the video show? The video has been shot in the Russian language to reach the masses. The contents of the video have been translated by CNN. Through the video, the CIA has tried to invoke a sense of patriotism. It portrays what the agency believes Russians are going through – doubt, lack of purpose and oppression. The narrator says, “We will live with dignity, thanks to my actions,” as a woman uses her phone to contact the CIA after the agency’s logo and contact instructions appear on the device. In what seems to be an emotional video, the theme of the clip runs around the livelihood of different Russians, appearing to contemplate their choices. The narrator also quotes Russian novelists Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy: “We will live with dignity, thanks to my actions.” The video ends with instructions on how to contact the CIA anonymously and Securely. ‘We understand you’ A CIA official involved with the project said that the purpose of the video is to send a message to Russians working in sensitive fields with access to vital information. The message is: “We understand you, maybe better than you think.” “We wanted to convey to Russians in their own language we know what they’re going through,” the official said who spoke in the condition of anonymity. The official also made it clear that the video is “absolutely not” intended to fuel unrest among the Russian population. Another official said, “Ukraine is top of mind but that’s more or less a symptom of something larger. There are always individuals in Russia who identify with what we have to say here.” Previous attempts at extracting info This is, however, not the first time the CIA has used such a tactic to convince Russians to leak sensitive information. Last year in May, the agency published a notification on its website with instructions on how Russians can covertly volunteer to provide information using an encrypted conduit. In its step-by-step guide, the CIA cautioned Russians, “Do not use your home or office computer to get in touch with us.” It instead asked citizens to use VPNs that is not based in China or Russia. A CIA official said, “Concerned Russians are trying to engage the CIA, and we wanted to provide a way to safely contact us.” Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook_,_  Twitter and  Instagram_._