Russia's spy boss says "Intelligence is life itself."

Interview with Sergei Naryshkin, Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (SVR).

Sergei Evgenevich Naryshkin was at the Higher School of the KGB (now the FSB Academy), with Vladimir Putin, in the early Nineties. In 2016, after several high-ranking roles, he took control of the SVR, Russia’s version of the CIA.

On December 10, 2024, the press office of the SVR published this interview with him. It’s the feature in the December issue of their ‘Investigator’ magazine.

Naryshkin’s words will scarcely be touched by Western media, even more so because it was in Russian, but it should be. Our attention is needed during war.

I don’t have to recommend that you read between the lines because his statements regarding the USA and Ukraine are clear.

Dear Sergey Evgenievich! At the end of last year, your article was published in the Razvedchik magazine , dedicated to the trends in the development of the international situation in the now outgoing year 2024. Were the forecasts confirmed and what new processes were outlined? What should Russia and the world community hope for and fear in the coming year?

The mainstream forecast about the growing crisis of the American-centric world and the multipolarity that is replacing it has certainly been confirmed. We have been observing manifestations of this process throughout the year. Take, for example, the failure of the American "summit for democracy." Let me remind you that this revisionist forum was created by J. Biden's team to record the redivision of the world according to Washington's patterns, to establish the notorious "rules-based order" and to ostracize all those who refuse to swear allegiance to these "rules." It was conceived as a global event, but in the end it turned into a backwater ministerial meeting, to which the White House barely managed to squeeze several dozen of its closest allies.

The Americans and their satellites received another painful slap in the face at the so-called peace summit in Bürgenstock. The leaders of the largest non-Western countries simply refused to take part in this farce, and many of those who came to Switzerland did not sign the final communiqué. The entire world is well aware of the absurdity of attempts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis without Russia's participation, especially given the developments on the line of combat contact. The peacekeeping and mediation activities of Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, Turkey, Arab and African states are based on this understanding. And only the West continues to live in an absolutely artificial reality, divorced from life, in which it has already "isolated" Moscow, and if we take into account the odious ICC warrants, it has also inflicted a "strategic defeat" on us.

But the world, thank God, is not a laboratory or a computer game, it cannot be constructed using information and political technologies. We had the opportunity to see for ourselves the “effectiveness” of Western efforts to “isolate” Russia during the triumphant BRICS summit in Kazan. Without exaggeration, this event became a milestone on the path to establishing genuine multipolarity – in terms of the composition of its participants, its agenda, and the general atmosphere in which it took place. In the Western press, one can often find comparisons between BRICS and the “Seven”. However, as I have said many times, there is a fundamental difference between them. The “Seven” is Washington and its satellites, that is, a direct product of a unipolar world based on the dollar and the tyranny of the United States. And BRICS, especially in its current expanded form, is an alliance of equal powers, or rather civilizations, striving to jointly find answers to the most pressing challenges of our time, taking into account national interests. The G7 is the past, BRICS is the future.

Of course, the enemy, as they said in one wonderful Soviet film, “does not want to give up the sky,” that is, refuses to admit that the era of its undivided dominance is over. It is not that Washington and London do not understand the essence of what is happening, but the inertia of their colonial thinking and deep-rooted racism are having an effect. Although at times, the Anglo-Saxons, as they say, lose their nerve. This is indicated, in particular, by their transition to open terror and attempts to physically eliminate opponents. In other words, the second ingredient has clearly begun to prevail in their favorite formula “buy or kill.” What, for example, is the high-profile assassination attempt on the Prime Minister of Slovakia Fico, who has the courage to speak out in defense of the national interests of his country? And this is just one episode. Let us recall the reports of threats of physical violence against the President of Serbia Vucic and the Prime Minister of Hungary Orban. It is obvious that literally all the bright leaders of the emerging multipolar world are under attack.

So the West is ready to take extreme measures?

I think so. One of the possible scenarios for the development of events in the medium term is an attempt by Westerners to unleash a global armed conflict with its epicenter in Eurasia. This, you know, is a proven way for global capital to get out of the crisis. It is encouraging, however, that Washington and London are far from the only ones who, as they themselves say, are bound by common values. New, no less stable groups of countries have appeared in the world. Other, more responsible players who, having united, are capable of resisting Anglo-Saxon adventures and independently resolving any problems, keeping the planet from sliding into World War III.

How might the above processes impact the Ukrainian conflict?

The West's strategic calculation in the Ukrainian crisis is extremely clear: to impose a protracted battle of attrition on us in order to split Russian society and create conditions for a "color revolution." They will fight, as they say, "to the last Ukrainian," and when there are none left, the Balts, Eastern Europeans, and, in the long term, the Germans will be forced to come out to fight the "terrible Russian bear." The globalists have the necessary technologies for brainwashing the population and pressuring local elites.

However, I can confidently state that further escalation will not only not lead to Russia's exhaustion, as Washington and London expect, but will bring the strategic defeat of the West itself closer. Despite sanctions and the theft of our sovereign assets, the Russian economy is showing growth, import substitution is developing at an accelerated pace, including in high-tech industries. New logistics chains are appearing, economic ties with non-Western countries are strengthening, primarily in the Greater Eurasia space.

All attempts to "destabilize" the situation in Russia have been unsuccessful. People realize that we are not fighting the Kyiv junta, but the collective West, and the price of this confrontation is our freedom and sovereignty. And the situation at the front is not in Kyiv's favor. The strategic initiative in all areas belongs to us, we are close to achieving our goals, while the Armed Forces of Ukraine are on the verge of collapse, and Zelensky's regime has completely lost legitimacy and, as a result, the ability to negotiate.

What can you say about the situation in the post-Soviet space in general?

An analysis of the data available to the Service allows us to conclude that the post-Soviet space remains a priority area of ​​attack by American and British intelligence services. The West has set itself the ambitious goal of breaking not only economic and political ties, but also deep historical and humanitarian ties between our countries. This approach follows from the well-known maxim of the Anglo-Saxons: "Whoever rules Eurasia rules the world." Although "to rule" for them means "to divide," "to sow chaos," and then to offer themselves to the exhausted nations as "impartial guarantors of security." How this happens is clearly seen in the Ukrainian example.

At the same time, the American "obsession" with Ukraine is beginning to have a destructive effect on the entire global financial and military-political system built by Washington. The US is losing the initiative on all fronts: from the Middle East to Asia and Africa. And in the post-Soviet space, they are even failing. Look, in Georgia, where the puppet Saakashvili was recently snacking on ties, the Westerners failed to prevent the ruling party "Georgian Dream" from winning the elections. Having realized the perniciousness of blind orientation towards the West, the Georgian authorities decided to act in their own interests and are now consciously moving away from the ultra-liberal transhumanist agenda imposed from outside, which is infinitely alien to traditional Georgian values. In Moldova, the Maia Sandu regime barely managed to pull off the desired result in the elections, de facto recording a deep split in Moldovan society. Azerbaijan and Armenia are also not very attentive to the recommendations of the US and the EU for a peaceful settlement, preferring to resolve all issues on their own.

This summer, President Vladimir Putin put forward an initiative to create a new system of collective security in Eurasia to replace the clearly bankrupt Euro-Atlantic model. Today, the topic of creating an equal and indivisible security contour on the Eurasian continent without the military presence of external powers has already firmly entered the international discourse. It was also raised on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan.

At one time we proposed to the Westerners to build a common security space from Lisbon to Vladivostok, they did not want it. Well, we will build a new architecture without them - say, from Minsk to Pyongyang.

Do you think the West can play a constructive role in building a new world order? Is it possible to reach an agreement with it or is direct conflict inevitable? And what place do you assign to Western countries in the future system of international relations?

Places will be distributed by history. A multipolar world should certainly include both the US and Europe, provided that they have equal rights with others. Today, humanity faces a large number of truly serious common challenges, such as pandemics, climate change and the associated global migration, and the uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence technologies. Leading regional and global powers need to work together to find ways to respond to them. The American and European "poles" with their spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation can and should play an important role in these processes.

But I am afraid that the Americans and Europeans are still a long way from returning to their identity. They are likely to face a difficult, dramatic period of internal strife, which will be attributed, as usual, to the "hand of Moscow." It is difficult for the West to admit the decline of its power. The United States still has powerful technological potential, the dollar, along with the euro, remains the world's reserve currency, McDonald's and MacBook are present in many corners of the planet, as are American aircraft carrier groups.

Nevertheless, Washington's authority in the world is increasingly "sagging". Even the closest allies of the Americans are increasingly less likely to look back at the opinion of the White House and are trying to expand their own boundaries of what is possible in politics and economics. You cannot imagine how many US partners from Asian, African, and Latin American countries, in their contacts with us, are asking us, as they say, not to stop in the Ukrainian conflict halfway. In addition, the West is literally slaughtering its own "sacred cows", including the same principle of the inviolability of private property. It is obvious to everyone that any country could end up in Russia's place.

Ultimately, all of this is pushing the global majority toward greater independence. We are witnessing a genuine decolonization of the Global South, which has begun to understand itself as a full-fledged geopolitical entity, and not as someone’s “backyard.” You may have noticed that the Kazan summit coincided with a rather dull forum of the British Commonwealth in Samoa. During it, the former colonies raised the issue of compensation from England for the damage caused. And this is only the beginning. The Irish, Scots, and Welsh also have their own grievances against London. In the United States, the movement for the decolonization of Texas and California is gaining popularity. Some may find such aspirations naive, but they reflect a general, and growing, trend.

Sergey Evgenievich, if you allow me, a few personal questions. Let me remind readers that you are far from a stranger to intelligence: in the 1980s you served in the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, and successfully worked in Europe. Do you remember your feelings from your first assignment?

In 1980, after graduating from the Higher Red Banner School of the KGB of the USSR, I returned to Leningrad, from where I was sent to study. I was incredibly happy that I was accepted into the intelligence department, into the scientific and technical intelligence department. After working for four years, including "under the protection" of one of the Leningrad institutions that had extensive foreign connections, and having gained some operational experience, I was sent to the one-year faculty of the Red Banner Institute of the KGB (now the Foreign Intelligence Academy). After graduation, I was left in Moscow to prepare for a foreign assignment.

Overall, I repeat, I was both happy and felt a special responsibility for the fact that I was sent specifically to intelligence. This sense of responsibility for the great task entrusted to me and my comrades did not leave me throughout the four years that I worked in the Soviet foreign intelligence residency in one of the European countries.

When do you think it was easier to work: then or now?

Since the Razvedchik magazine is a public publication, I will not analyze and compare operational and other special moments: how it was then, 30 years ago, and how it is now. But, speaking about the general background, I want to note that now, perhaps, it is more difficult and for the following reasons. In the mid-1980s, the Cold War continued, the confrontation between two systems and the two main countries representing these systems - the USSR and the USA. At the same time, the general atmosphere of contacts between Soviet citizens and representatives of the West was generally favorable, there was no sense that something strongly divided us in a general human sense.

Now the situation is fundamentally different. Unfortunately, the degrading Western system, the totalitarian-liberal Western bloc is strongly fueling the atmosphere of Russophobia in Western society. We see that in the last two to two and a half years the level of Russophobia is simply off the charts. Of course, this leaves its mark on the work of our foreign offices in the countries of Europe and North America. This is, perhaps, the main difference.

You returned to intelligence after almost twenty years. How much have the forms and methods of work, as well as the people themselves, the intelligence officers, changed during this time?

I will say right away that the fundamental principles of the activities of the domestic foreign intelligence have not changed. Of course, all these years the methodological techniques and technologies in various aspects of intelligence, information and analytical work have been improved. In addition, there has been a noticeable redistribution of roles between individual areas of the Service's activities. First of all, I mean that technological progress has most seriously affected the SVR of Russia, and, as it seems to me, all these years the Service has not only kept up with progress, but has sometimes been one step ahead.

In this regard, new technologies were most actively and creatively introduced into operational activities - primarily communication systems, information processing. I saw that over the years the level of the Service's work has grown significantly, operational methods have become more refined... The framework of a public journal does not allow me to expand on this topic, but it is obvious that intelligence is growing and improving. Naturally, this requires a higher level of training of employees, and this is exactly what is happening today.

In addition to leading intelligence, you head the Russian Historical Society and are involved in educational activities. Tell me, how do you manage to do everything? Do you have time for friends, family, sports?

I don't think that I am some kind of leader here, I am just used to working a lot. Both when I worked in St. Petersburg in various positions, and when I moved to Moscow, where the workload increased even more. Of course, responsible, managerial work has always required and continues to require full concentration of strength and attention.

At the same time, of course, I enjoy communicating with my family, with friends, I find time to do physical exercise and sports. By the way, if we talk about this component, it is the duty of a foreign intelligence officer to be in good physical shape. And there is nothing that would distinguish me from others. Moreover, the SVR of Russia has created unique opportunities for sports. Perhaps no other agency in Moscow or in the regions has such opportunities. Therefore, dear colleagues, take advantage, take advantage of them 100%.

What would you wish to the young employees of the Service who are now preparing to go abroad on their first mission?

I would say the following. My dear young colleagues! The status of an employee of the SVR of Russia obliges you to many things. You must be ready to always defend the interests of the case, put them above your own and sometimes even make personal sacrifices.

I advise you to follow the three-fold rule throughout your entire period of service in intelligence, whether you work in the central office or abroad: master, implement and creatively develop. This algorithm of actions has been tested by many generations of employees of the domestic foreign intelligence.

Colleagues! You are young, energetic, have undergone good specialized training, and have accumulated certain professional knowledge. Use this baggage creatively both in your work at the Center and during your foreign missions. The main thing is to fear nothing. But at the same time, keep a cool head and remember: the future of our country, our beloved Russia, its security, prosperity, and well-being largely depend on the effective work of each foreign intelligence officer, including you.

And finally. Sergey Evgenievich, what is intelligence for you?

I'll give you a short answer. For me, as an intelligence officer, intelligence is life itself.

Interviewer: Mikhail Pogudin