Watch CIA Russian recruitment Video

The CIA has announced a channel on the Telegram app to attract potential Russians to become spies for the organization. The CIA’s goal is to recruit Russian spies through the posting of videos on this Telegram channel.

A video published in the CIA’s Telegram channel showed some Russians in disguise experiencing anxiety about the situation in their country. As of Tuesday, the CIA’s new Telegram account had nearly 5,000 followers. The agency has started posting recruitment videos in Russian on its new Telegram channel to attract potential candidates.

The CIA released a gripping cinematic video on Monday aimed at appealing to disgruntled Russians. This video has been professionally designed to evoke a sense of instability in the minds of viewers. It displays stressful situations, like a tired man putting his hand to his face, a parent visiting a child in the hospital, and a man sitting tiredly in bed. Screenshot from a CIA recruitment video that was posted online on May 15, 2023. The content accompanying the video is intended to evoke the belief that life could be better and that things are not stable in Russia.

In another video, a woman using a mobile phone looks up the CIA’s website and sees the words: “We will live with dignity, thanks to my actions,” according to a translation by CNN. The video also provides detailed instructions on how to contact the agency safely. It also asks the question: “Are you a military officer? Do you work in intelligence, diplomacy, science, high technology or deal with working people?” The videos are part of a CIA effort to capitalize on discontent in Russian society.

An unidentified CIA official told CNN: “Ukraine is a priority but it’s a sign of something bigger. There are always individuals in Russia who sympathize with what we’re saying here. .”

The videos were released on the platform Telegram, a popular messaging app in Russia, and are not censored like the majority of traditional media in Russia. Telegram also allows the organization to host multiple accounts that operate without restrictions, different from other popular news sources on issues like the invasion of Ukraine.

Before that, the US used other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to appeal to the Russians. In 2019, the FBI ran a series of ads targeting Russians in the United States on Facebook, while the CIA posted Instagram posts in May of the previous year.

In November, the CIA’s Deputy Director of Operations, David Marlowe, announced that the CIA was “open for business” to Russians “disgusted” by the war in Ukraine, according to a first article in The Wall Street Journal. .

James Olson, the former director of counterintelligence, said this was possibly the best period of Russian recruitment the CIA has ever had, and said: “There are a lot of unhappy Russians out there.”

The CIA’s Telegram channel had nearly 5,000 subscribers as of Tuesday, which Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said was “a very convenient source for tracking candidates,” according to The Moscow Times.

Although CIA officials have stressed that the move is not intended to stir unrest among the general Russian population, tensions have increased following the arrest of Robert Shonov. He is a man identified by Russian state media as a former US Embassy employee and charged with conspiracy.

Overall, officials say the positive response to these calls has encouraged the CIA to make this latest effort.