Calls There Is A Crack In President Putin's Circle, Head Of MI6 Invites Russian Citizens To Be Spying For Britain

The atmosphere at Rostov was after the Wagner Group troops withdrew. (Wikimedia Commons/Fargoh)

JAKARTA - The head of Britain's foreign intelligence agency said the Wagner Group's insurgency showed a train in President Vladimir Putin's circle, inviting Russian citizens to join London's code offense.

In his second public speech since becoming head of the Secret Intelligence Service in 2020, Richard Moore said there appeared to be little prospect for Russia to regain its momentum in Ukraine.

Speaking at the British Embassy in Prague, Moore, officially coded "C", likened the situation in Ukraine to the spring of Prague in 1968, when Soviet tanks canceled liberalization reforms.

"When they witness the hatred, conflict and inability of their inhumane leaders... many Russians grapple with the same dilemma their predecessors experienced in 1968," he said.

"I invite them to do what others have done over the past 18 months and join hands with us. Our door is always open... Their secret will be safe with us and together we will work to end the bloodshed," said Moore.

In his speech and in his subsequent interview, Moore said an armed insurgency last month by the founder of Wagner's mercenaries group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had exposed "irresistible rot" of President Putin's "unstable autocracy".

"If you look at Putin's behavior that day, Prigozhin started as a traitor at breakfast, he was forgiven at dinner and two days later he was invited to drink tea. There are several things that even MI6's head finds it a little difficult to interpret," Moore explained.

"I don't think you need all MI6 resources to conclude that there is a deep rift among the Russian elite around Putin," he said.

The spy chief said he was optimistic about Ukraine's retaliatory attacks. He described Iran's decision to supply Moscow with drones for the conflict as "absurd", saying it had sparked an internal altercation at the highest level in Tehran.

Moore also talked about the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI). His team used it to improve their work, including disrupting the flow of weapons to Russia. However, he said authoritarian regimes used it to spread fake news and disinformation.

"I hope we will be more assigned to get more evidence of how hostile countries use AI in a destructive, reckless and unethical way," he said.

Moore added that despite his focus on Russia, his party devotes more resources to China than any other country.