Daily Archives: July 31, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a naval doctrine on Sunday that accused the United States of seeking to dominate the worlds oceans and extends Moscows own ambitions into the Arctic Ocean.

Putin inked the document shortly before delivering a patriotic speech on Navy Day urging Russia to defend its national security interests, according to Reuters.

The 55-page naval doctrine says Russia will aim to become a great maritime navy with a presence across the world to counter the strategic policy of the USA to dominate the worlds oceans.

Guided by this doctrine, the Russian Federation will firmly and resolutely defend its national interests in the worlds oceans, and having sufficient maritime power will guarantee their security and protection,the doctrine reads, per Reuters.

It also says Russia will expand its ambitions in the Arctic Ocean. The U.S. has previously warned Russia and China against aggression in the Arctic region.

Speaking at the city of St. Petersburg off the Neva River later in the day, Putin said Russia will defend our interests in claimed territories.

We need to take resolute action today, given the challenges were facing, the Russian leader said. The homeland for everyone is a sacred concept. We need to defend it.

As Putin finished, he earned a large hoo-rah from the naval sailors and officers who gathered for Navy Day, which is celebrated on the last Sunday of July.

Putin did not mention the war in Ukraine, but he pledged to defend Russian naval power in the Black and Azov seas.

We need to rely on our capabilities, and anyone who would like to endanger our sovereignty will get a strong response, Putin said.

The Russian president ordered an invasion of Ukraine in late February, in part because he feared Ukraine would join the western security alliance NATO.

With the U.S. spending billions to arm Ukraine, tensions between Moscow and Washington are higher than at any point since the Cold War.

However, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday held their first call since the war began, to discuss a possible prisoner swap.

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Putin pledges to expand Russias naval power, citing US as top threat - The Hill

Anatoly Chubais, who resigned as a high-ranking adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and left Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, was reported to be in intensive care in a European hospital for a neurological disorder

Anatoly Chubais, who resigned as a high-ranking adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and left Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, was reported to be in intensive care in a European hospital on Sunday for a neurological disorder.

Ksenia Sobchak, a Russian television personality and family friend of Chubais, said on Telegram that she had spoken with his wife, Avdotya, and that he was suffering from Guillain-Barre syndrome. She did not say which clinic he was in.

Guillain-Barre is a rare disorder in which the bodys immune system attacks the nerves. Sobchak said Chubais condition was unstable, but she quoted him as saying it was moderate, stable.

Although Chubais did not state his reason for resigning in March, it was presumed to be because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

His was the highest-level of a series of official resignations. Chubais had most recently been Putins envoy to international organizations on sustainable development. He is well-known in Russia, having held high-profile posts since the early 1990s, when he oversaw privatization efforts under Boris Yeltsin.

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Ex-Putin adviser Chubais reported to be in European hospital - ABC News

Ukraine has given Vladimir Putin's Russia a "bloody nose" and may have inflicted casualties in excess of 100,000 troops, a former Army officer and defence analyst has said.

Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Crawford, who served in the Royal Tank Regiment for 20 years, including during the Gulf War in 1990-91, retired in 1999.

The Ministry of Defence yesterday said Ukraine's counteroffensive was gathering momentum in the Russian-controlled southern Ukrainian city of Kherson - something which was no surprise to Lt Col Crawford.

He told Express.co.uk: I said back in March that what I thought would happen was that the war would get stuck in the Donbas and the Ukrainians would, with Western help, slowly build up their weaponry, train up their soldiers and mount a counter-offensive aiming to retake curse in the south and threatened the Crimea.

And that seems to be what's happening, although I'm slightly wary of it because the Ukrainians have been so open about their intention to attack Kherson and threaten Crimea that I'm just wondering whether that's disinformation that they're carrying out, and they're going to do something else.

But I think the essential truth is that the Russians have exhausted their immediate military capability and are undertaking what we call an operational pause, where they sort of catch their breath basically, rearm, retrain, bring fresh troops in etc.

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Ukraine LIVE: 'Beginning of end' Putin on brink as doomed tyrant issues new missile threat - Express

In this system, even tycoons must live with the uncertainty that someone closer to Mr. Putin than them could take away all their wealth tomorrow. The culture of humiliation goes deep into society. Sexual harassment is routine. A 2017 law decriminalized some domestic abuse against children and women. Extreme hazing has been rife in the army.

The father figure in this family is, of course, authoritarian. Over three-quarters of Russians believe that they need a strong hand to rule the country, a common phrase that denotes a leader who will both protect and violently discipline its people and that Kremlin propaganda often uses to describe Mr. Putin.

In describing Ukraine, Mr. Putin often uses the same discourse. He invokes Russian clichs that deify Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, as the mother of all Russian cities and then turns on this idealized mother when she doesnt do what he wants. Just weeks before the invasion, during a news conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Mr. Putin said Ukraine should just do her duty, my beauty and put up with it, a line that was widely viewed as a reference to lyrics about rape.

Maybe the description of the Russian Empire as a family is apt, actually. A family that is deeply unhappy and abusive, in which traumas are layered on top of traumas and some members are singled out for more suffering, some for less, but everyone suffers; those who feel unable to leave dont want anybody to escape.

After the 2014 Russian-backed uprising in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin turned the separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk into a Soviet Dismaland, with Soviet-style youth groups, propaganda parades with Soviet flags and marches of captured Ukrainian troops through the streets. This time in Ukraine, Russia repeats Soviet mass deportations, detentions and enforced disappearances of intellectuals and activists who support Ukrainian sovereignty. Humiliated people can struggle to imagine a future as they play out old traumas over and over. We wont let you emerge into a future, the Kremlin seems to be saying to Ukrainians; we want you stuck in the past we cant overcome.

Kremlin propaganda successfully sublimates the sense of humiliation onto the West. According to Denis Volkov, the director of the polling firm Levada Center since 2014, Russians have claimed that if it wasnt for Ukraine, the West would have found another excuse to humiliate Russia through sanctions and other measures. Levadas most recent research suggests that 75 percent of Russians support the war. That support, though, is more of a case of a people so crushed by the state they follow along with anything it tells them to, argues the sociologist Lev Gudkov. More objective statistics are TV ratings for political talk shows. The highest ratings go to shows such as Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov and 60 Minutes, where hosts and guests often call for the annihilation of Ukrainian independence.

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Opinion | Putin Performs for Russia, and Ukraine Is the Stage - The New York Times

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MILAN, Italy "Putins Patriots" was plastered across the front page of Italys La Stampa newspaper Thursday under a photo of the far-right Lega, or League, party leader Matteo Salvini giving a thumbs-up as he smiled in a T-shirt emblazoned with the Russian presidents likeness.

It is an old photo.But it's a story with brand new legs. There are allegations the Russians actively pushed for certain Italian parties to pull their support from outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi, one of the European leaders who's been toughest on Russia in the wake of its war on Ukraine.

Salvini insists Russia was not behind the fall of this government.But he does advocate dialogue with Vladimir Putin. Before the war, he even advertised support for the Russian leader in slightly better days. All of this adds to fears about Russia ending up somehow the winner of next months Italian elections.

Enrico Letta, leader of the center-left PD, or Democratic Party, earlier this week raised the alert because he says Russia has meddled in Western elections before in the United States and the United Kingdom, and this time the stakes couldnt be higher.

ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER DRAGHI RESIGNS IN LATEST WORLD LEADER SHAKEUP

Italian Premier Mario Draghi waves to lawmakers at the end of his address at the Parliament in Rome Thursday, July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

"I launch a red alarm on that. And I would like to have the Italian government and Italian intelligence (on the case)," Letta said. "And I would also like to ask the European Union because there's a unit within the European Union focused on that to help us to have elections without any external Russian influence."

Mario Draghi resigned earlier this month because some parties in the coalition government hed been charged with leading last year when former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stepped down pulled their support for him. They did so partly over resistance to some of his reforms.

The former central bank president, often called "Super Mario" and credited with saving the euro, had been considered by many a safe choice for both Italy and Europe in rocky times.But Draghi wasnt part of all the all-important political parties.And Italys political landscape does not stay calm for long.The next government will be the 70th since World War II.If you believe the polls, it is likely to be a coalition of the right.

FIRE BREAKS OUT AT ITALIAN LAKE VILLA OWNED BY MEMBER OF PUTIN'S INNER CIRCLE

Gianluca Paolucci, co-author of "Oligarchs" and "How Putins Friends are Buying Italy" doesnt suggest, as some have speculated, that the Kremlin actually bought the no-confidence measure. But he does say those who engineered Draghis demise are more sympathetic toward Putin and may give him a break going forward.That may not change the trajectory of the war.But it could do a number on European cohesion.

"We all know about the relation between Mr. (Matteo) Salvini and the League Party and United Russia, the party of President Putin," Paolucci told Fox News."And about oligarchs and the far right here. And then there is the Five Star Movement."

Scheherazade, one of the world's biggest and most expensive yachts linked to Russian billionaires, is moored in the harbor of the small Italian town of Marina di Carrara, Italy, March 23, 2022. (REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini)

Paolucci recalled how the leader of that party and then prime minister invited some Russian emergency teams in to help handle the COVID pandemic in its early days when Italy was hit hard.It turned out those Russians were not just medics and sanitary technicians but members of the military. And the images of them fanning across towns in northern Italy raised eyebrows.

"That was quite shocking to see this long queue of Russian military (vehicles) in Italy," Paolucci said. "I mean, the whole country was closed at home at the time."

Experts and the polls say the next government will be right leaning, likely a coalition. But it is the most far-right party of the grouping that looks set to take the helm.

Giorgia Meloni is the leader of the Fratelli d'Italia, or Brothers of Italy. And if that party gets the most votes as predicted, Meloni will probably be Italy's first female prime minister. The party insists it will not go easy on Russia.Party officials say theyll be in lockstep with Europe, NATO and the United States in standing up to Putin as long as this war rages.

Fratelli d'Italia party leader Giorgia Meloni attends a rally for the elections in Piazza Roma May 30, 2022, in Monza, Italy. (Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

"We have strongly condemned the invasion of Russia, and we have a solid sense of belonging and conviction within the Atlantic Alliance," said Raffaele Fitto of Brothers of Italy and co-president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament.

ITALIAN PM'S RESIGNATION REJECTED BY COUNTRY'S PRESIDENT, PARLIAMENT TO DECIDE HIS FUTURE NEXT WEEK

The center-left PD, the second-strongest single party, isnt convinced that Brothers of Italy will work well with the countrys European allies on Russia and beyond. The party is accused of being anti-Europe.Its detractors say the party is born of the fascist tradition in this country, but Letta suggests that label may be too simplistic.

"Our electoral campaign could be an electoral campaign in which the word fascism can be repeated many times," Letta said this week."But I think, to win this election, I have to explain to voters why it is better to vote for us because its in their own interests in terms of social dimension, in terms of salaries, jobs and the fight against climate change."

Leaders of the Brothers of Italy say they will effectively champion all those causes except for fascism, which they call a smear.

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"It is a party that today has the consent of one in four Italians and probably even higher in a month," Fitto says."We are a party that has deep roots in democracy, and what we strongly ask (Italians) is to go and vote to have a government legitimized by the choice of citizens."

These are citizens like many across the globe who will ultimately be most worried about fuel bills, jobs and inflation. Russia plays big in this equation.But obviously it is just a piece of the political puzzle.And for sure, Russia will be eagerly awaiting the results of Italys Sept. 25 election. Maybe almost as eagerly as the Italians will be.

Amy Kellogg currently serves as a correspondent based in Milan. She joined FOX News Channel (FNC) in 1999 as a Moscow-based correspondent. Follow her on Twitter: @amykelloggfox

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'Red alarm' raised in Italy while threat of Putin's interference hovers over upcoming election - Fox News

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released updated statistics about Russian combat losses which show more than 40,000 Russian soldiers estimated to have been killed along thousands of vehicles and hundreds of aircraft.

Despite Russia's overwhelming superiority in manpower and equipment, Ukraine has slowed the Russian advance in the east of the country to a crawl and has begun a massive counter-offensive in the south of the country.

NATO-supplied advanced artillery systems seem to be having an effect, striking far behind the frontlines and destroying Moscow's supply chains and command centres.

The news comes as the Kremlin desperately tries to maintain control of the Kherson region by enacting illegal referendums to cement the occupied region as part of Russia proper.

The Ministry of Defence said in a tweet: "Across the newly occupied territories in southern Ukraine, Russian-installed authorities are highly likely under increasing pressure from Moscow to consolidate their control over the region and prepare for referendums on joining Russia later in the year."

However, with a Ukrainian counteroffensive well underway in the region, Moscow is running out of time to consolidate its power there.

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Ukraine: Kyiv humiliates Putin as 40K troops lost and thousands in vital kit wiped - Express

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It is not just Ukraine-erasing and a violent charge to wipe a brother country, or at least parts of it, off the map. The mission and mindset go much further, according to preeminent Kyiv-born, Russian-educated author and literary translator, Elena Kostioukovitch.

In a recent essay called "Whats Going on In Putins Mind," she says there is a toxic fascination in Russia, starting at the very top, with alternative histories of the entire world, theories which paint Russians as the real masters of the universe and ancient civilizations like Greece and Rome as mere inventions of phony scholars.Fake history, essentially, trumping even fake news.

This world view is largely based on volumes of something called "The New Chronology," which is the brainchild mainly of two Russian authors, an academic and a mathematician respectively-- Anatoly Fomenko and Gleb Nosovsky.One of the key premises is that dark forces tampered with all the history books in libraries across the globe at a certain point in time, wiping out or changing real versions of events and resetting dates.

According to Kostioukovitch, it is one of the many mystical, fantastical theories Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle are peddling, and they have managed to sweep not insignificant parts of the population along with them, manipulating masses towards the conclusion that it is high time to make amendsnot just for losing the Cold War-but for long-standing injustice against Russians.For the Kremlin, this works very well for the moment.

VIDEO SHOWS PUTIN STANDING AWKWARDLY, WAITING FOR ERDOGAN TO SHOW UP FOR IRAN MEETING

"They created the idea that any action can be supported by a pretext," Kostioukovitch told Fox News earlier this month. "It must have a historical context.It sounds idealistic, but idealistic is good for the Russian people and the masses.They love this historical pretext."She goes on, "this is fake history. But it is what Russian people love deeply.Because the idea is that everything in the world can be faked."

Such a position would give carte blanche to question or disobey anything and everything that is unpleasant, the theory goes. Kostioukovich, of course, is not privy to Putins reading list.She is , however, convinced that the Kremlin is gripped by such revisionism from the language used by its top lieutenants, mouthpieces and the leader himself.

Russian President Vladimir Putin uses state-run media to spread the Kremlins message. (ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images, File)

"I have read with great attention his (Putins) speeches," she says."I have seen the lexicon, the expressions he quotes, and I have seen the names and ideas he drops, and he supposes everybody knows, but not everybody knows.To know all this trash, you must read these kinds of books be part of some sort of sect of re-enactors of history and this is dangerous for us all." Kostioukovitch says the sheer volume of readers of the "New Chronology" has gathered over years is also striking.

This deep, if deluded, dive back in time serves to reinforce the recent rants from the Kremlin about the necessity of protecting the long-suffering "Russian World" and putting an end to rising Russophobia propagated by the West.

PUTIN CLAIMS RUSSIA'S WAR IN UKRAINE IS JUST BEGINNING

Kostioukovitch also delves into the symbols being used for this campaign against Ukraine and the West at large. The letter "Z" plastered over tanks but now codified as something to be added in many official contexts and communiques has never been explained. The "Z" can be seen on anything from buildings now to bumper stickers. The less used but still prominent "V" is another symbol of this so-called existential struggle. Neither are letters in the Russian alphabet.It is thus, one of the wars great mysteries.

A soldier of Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) with an attached letter Z, which has become a symbol of the Russian military, stands guard during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade which will take place at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square on May 9 to celebrate 77 years after the victory in World War II in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

"By leaving this inexplicable, nebulous unresolved air over everything," Kostioukovitch offers, "perhaps the regime is hoping to further weaken peoples cognitive and logical capabilities, continually remarking that they are not required to understand. Only to obey and intuit." Kostioukovitch sees the "Z" as a sort of reverse half of the Nazi swastikawhich she finds as such a strange choice of symbol for a war against supposed Nazis in Ukraine.

RUSSIA'S SHOIGU SAYS WAR IN UKRAINE WILL END WHEN PUTIN'S 'TASKS' ARE COMPLETED

However, she believes this symbolism comes from a twisted fascination among certain segments of the Russian power base with SS soldiers from World War II which have been portrayed in all their clean-shaven, polished-boot precision in many Soviet films. She suggests "Z" could even represent the "Zentre" Nazi strike force that conquered Ukraine. Kostioukovitch says there may even be a "romanticizing" of "that aesthetic," and "that destructive energy, that unstoppable force mixed with elegance and unholy evil."

Last week, incidentally, Kostioukovitch, who now lives in Italy but whose work over the years has linked her closely with Russia, renounced her Russian citizenship. It is something easier said than done, according to the author.One does not just rip up their passportit is a long bureaucratic process that in her case was held up over three cents due on a tax bill according to her, laughing at the apparent absurdity of being held hostage over a few kopeks.

Ukrainian soldiers install the state flag on Snake island, in the Black Sea July 7, 2022. The Ukrainian military returned the flag of Ukraine to island, which had been under the control of Russian troops for some time. (Ukrainian Defence Ministry Press Office via AP)

Kostioukovitch, who says that she and many Russians in exile are doing whatever they can to try to help Ukrainian refugees, push back against this war and fight for democracy in Russia, brushes off her gesture, calling it nothing compared to what the likes of jailed dissidents Alexei Navalny, and most recently Ilya Yashin have sacrificed to protest the policies of their government.

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"They will be symbols," she says. "They will be heroes. They will be the future leaders of Russia. Not those who are in Europe."

Amy Kellogg currently serves as a correspondent based in Milan. She joined FOX News Channel (FNC) in 1999 as a Moscow-based correspondent. Follow her on Twitter: @amykelloggfox

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Putin's fascination with fake history and symbolism may go deeper than we know - Fox News

Europe has previously received around 45% of its annual gas supplies from Russia.

Leonhard Foeger | Reuters

Europe's descent into an economic contraction looks to have been confirmed with Russia squeezing natural gas supplies to the region and heavy industry facing tough rationing in the coming months.

Just days after Europeans breathed a sigh of relief as Russian gas giant Gazprom announced it would resume supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, it then announced Monday that flows would be reduced yet again.

The announcement, with Gazprom saying it would be for maintenance of a turbine along the pipeline, was greeted with incredulity and condemnation in Europe.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the move which will see flows to Germany fall to 20% of its capacity from an already low level of 40% was tantamount to a "gas war" with Europe. Germany's economy minister, Robert Habeck, said the excuse that maintenance was the reason for the supply cut was a "farce."

It puts Europe in a tricky situation as it contends with rampant inflation, the war in Ukraine and an already troubled supply chain following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Germany, the region's largest economy and traditional growth driver, has a particular reason to worry. It's largely reliant on Russian gas and is sliding toward a recession. The government is particularly concerned about how it will keep the lights on over the winter: Habeck said Monday evening that "we have a serious situation. It is time for everyone to understand that," during an interview with broadcaster ARD.

Habeck also said that Germany must reduce its gas consumption, noting "we're working on that." He said that in a scenario of low supplies, gas for industries will be reduced before private residences or critical infrastructure such as hospitals.

"Of course it's a big concern, which I also share, that this can happen. Then certain production chains in Germany or Europe would simply no longer be manufactured. We have to avoid that with all the strength we have,"Habeck said.

With Russia under a raft of international sanctions in response to its war on Ukraine, gas is one weapon it can use against Europe.

The region has previously received around 45% of its annual supplies from Russia and while it desperately tries to seek alternatives, such as U.S. liquefied natural gas, it cannot replace its Russian hydrocarbons fast enough.

Unless the situation dramatically changes, analysts are predicting a difficult winter ahead for the Continent.

"High energy costs are pushing Western Europe toward recession," S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a report Sunday.

"Our July forecast already incorporates mild second-quarter contractions in real GDP in the UK, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. With inflation surprising on the upside, the central banks are stepping up the pace of monetary policy tightening. While a rebound in tourism and consumer services might give the region a slight lift in the summer quarter, another setback is likely in the fourth quarter given unreliable energy supplies," it added.

Exceptionally high natural gas and electricity prices will damage industrial competitiveness in Germany and other manufacturing centers. S&P warned the destructive Russia-Ukraine war will likely drag on through 2022, deflating consumer and business confidence across Europe.

It noted that euro zone real GDP growth is projected to slow from 5.4% in 2021 to 2.5% in 2022 and 1.2% in 2023, before improving to 2.0% in 2024.

EU governments agreed Tuesday to ration natural gas in the coming winter in a bid to insulate themselves from further supply cuts by Russia with the bloc's energy ministers approving a draft European law aimed at lowering demand for gas by 15% through the fall and into next spring.

Whether the gas savings can be achieved remains to be seen and there has been dissent among EU members about the rationing of gas use.

"Cutting consumption can only do so much. Fundamentally, there is huge demand for natural gas and especially liquid natural gas (LNG) in Europe. Rationing, which will especially impact energy intensive industries like car makers, chemical companies and cryptocurrency mining, can't be ruled out," Simon Tucker, global head of energy, utilities and resources at Infosys Consulting, said in emailed comments Tuesday.

"EU countries and the UK must do all they can to replenish gas stores before the cold kicks in this means looking at every way possible to reduce energy use and improve supply. We're already seeing a large increase in shipments of LNG from the Middle East and North America. But countries need to accelerate the modernisation of their own infrastructure. Mass deployment of low-carbon, domestic energy alternatives like mini nuclear reactors and community renewables is not just a 'nice to have', it's an imperative if we are to come out of this crisis stronger."

With such a program of infrastructure modernization likely to take time, Europe is likely to feel more economic pain in the near term.

The possibility of a recession in Europe now seems "clear-cut," Citi economists and strategists said in a note Tuesday, with Russia's decision to cut gas flows again likely to have "the consequence of pushing Europe into a deeper recession."

"As plans for energy rationing for winter get agreed upon, we expect that tighter financial conditions in Europe will induce a much worse reaction in the real economy, given the stance in savings, household leverage and corporate balance sheets. Winter is knocking on Europe's door," Citi concluded.

There is, of course, the chance that Russia could again turn up the taps on its gas flows to Europe once the supposed maintenance of this turbine on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is completed.

"It's a bit confusing as to whether this will be a short restriction of supply while the repaired turbine makes its way back online or whether the paperwork will never quite be resolved, and we live with only 20% supplies for a considerable time," Deutsche Bank analysts led by Jim Reid said in a note Tuesday, adding that Russia was likely looking for clearer guarantees on future sanctions exemptions for maintenance of NS1 and related issues.

"This will likely be hard to achieve and the Russians will know this.So it appears like Russian politics will be in control here for now," they said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin talks during a meeting with workers after riding a train across the bridge linking Russia and Crimean Peninsula at Taman railways station on December 23, 2019 near Anapa, Russia. s)

Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The strategists believed that with the pipeline flowing at 40% capacity Germany could make it through the winter even if some light rationing was needed. "At 20% you would likely need some notable rationing unless they cut gas exports which would be a very delicate thing to do politically," the Deutsche Bank analysts said.

In the meantime,the potential 15% reduction that all EU member states have just agreed upon could be hard to enforce in reality. "Expect lots of carve-outs and compromises to appear if a plan that can progress is agreed," they said.

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Putin's new gas squeeze condemns Europe to recession and a hard winter of rationing - CNBC

Embedding undercover operatives in the likes of the UK and the US has been a favoured Russian intelligence tactic since the dawn of the Cold War. Unlike Russian intelligence officers masquerading as diplomats, so-called illegals are typically far more difficult to uncover.

For this reason, Dr Calder Walton, historian and former barrister at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, predicted there is almost certainly a web of unknown illegals embedded in Western countries, unbeknownst to domestic intelligence agencies.

Dr Walton told Express.co.uk: "Are there illegals operating in Western countries today that the security services do not know about? Almost certainly.

There was a large-scale Russian illegal operation uncovered in the US in 2010.

And I'm confident to say that there are other networks that the security services do not know about, it would seem improbable if there were not."

Dr Walton, author of the upcoming book, Spies:The Epic Intelligence War between East and West", pointed to one of the most infamous discoveries of illegals in Western countries.

Anna Chapman, otherwise known as Anna Vasilyevna Kushchenko, was part of a ring of Russian spies arrested in the US in 2010.

The FBI described the operatives goals as cultivating influence in the highest echelons of US society.

However, accounts suggest the group was largely unsuccessful in feeding useful intelligence back to the Kremlin.

READ MORE:Putin humiliated as intercepted call shows Ukrainians air power

The most patriotic thing that somebody can do would be to live overseas, under an alias, carefully recruiting people and undertaking active measures as directed, all the while right under the noses of the domestic security services."

Dr Walton added: Whether they're successful, we don't know.

How many are there? We don't know.

But it seems difficult to believe that Putin will have just given up and not be undertaking illegals anymore."

This comes after the head of MI6, Richard Moore, said a handful of illegals had been discovered in Europe since the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

The UK foreign intelligence chief added: Across Europe, roughly half - at last count, something north of 400 Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover have been expelled.

We reckon in the UK, thats probably reduced their ability to do their business, to spy for Russia in Europe, by half.

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Putin's secret mission in UK and US laid bare as masses of Russian 'spies undetected' - Express