Vladimir Putin: We Need to Expand Out Anti-Terrorism Efforts and Begin Countering Foreign Intelligence
The key mission of Russian special services is countering terrorism, Vladimir Putin said at the FSC board meeting, which took place this week in Moscow.
The head of state noted that the number of terrorist crimes had dropped significantly over the past 6 years, from 316 to 25. According to the President, it's due to more prevention measures conducted by the state security apparatus.
Vladimir Putin: "Thus, in 2017, 68 terrorist crimes were prevented, including 25 terrorist attacks. I would like to thank you separately for this because all these numbers mean saved lives of our citizens".
Vladimir Putin said that FSC had all the necessary resources to face internal and external threats, for example, extremism. According to the President, it's necessary to counter foreign intelligence more actively.
Vladimir Putin: "Last year alone we stopped 72 employees and 397 agents working with foreign secret services. I ask you to continue working in this crucial area in a most organized and effective manner, and to prevent any attempts of foreign intelligence services to obtain political, economic, technical and defense information".
The head of state noted that FSC had to strengthen the protection of Russia’s information space from advanced cyber threats, increase the reliability of authorities’ and law enforcement agencies’ confidential communication channels, pay special attention to countering corruption in large-scale projects.
Vladimir Putin: "The Russian FSC has been recently involved in a series of operations against bribe-takers and corrupt communities. This included those who lived off the economy, the housing and utilities system, the budget, who stole from the state and the citizens, thus inflicting a direct, serious direct damage to the development of Russia".
Finally, Putin thanked the FSC personnel and leadership for their scrupulous and efficient work.