Russian 'traitor' revelation due to spy turf war: report

The shock revelation that a Russian double agent exposed 10 spies working for Moscow in the US was a leak due to a turf war between Russia's secret services, a report said Monday.

The Kommersant daily said last week that the 10 Russian spies had been betrayed by a top Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) agent known only as Colonel Shcherbakov.

Pavel Felgenhauer, an expert on defense and intelligence issues for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, said the leak was due to a turf war between the SVR and the Federal Security Service (FSB), which looks after domestic security.

Both the SVR and the FSB emerged from the Soviet-era secret service, the KGB, after the collapse of the US. Felgenhauer said the FSB was seeking to impose its influence over foreign intelligence.

"Under the presidency of Vladimir Putin (2000-2008), the FSB regained control of the border guards and government communications," Felgenhauer wrote in the Novaya Gazeta. "The huge failure, arrest and expulsion of the 10 sleeper agents in the US is a chance for the FSB to launch a campaign to subdue the SVR."

He said that, according to the Novaya Gazeta's sources, "it is precisely the FSB, which is leading the enquiry over this failure, that has become the main source of leaked information about the treason of Shcherbakov."

The aim of the leaks was to speed up decisions about a reorganization of the SVR, either by merging it with the FSB or replacing its current leadership, Felgenhauer added.

AFP