KAPO’s annual report: FSB is
actively recruiting “ordinary citizens”
The Russian Federal Security Service has adjusted it’s targets for recruitment from mainly foreigners with decision making stature to include the “man on the street”- those who have no access to state secrets. This according to KAPO’s annual report of activity in 2015.
Aleksandr Rudnev
Born in 1994, Rudnev was arrested in March of 2015. In October the Tartu county court convicted him of belonging to an anti-Estonian conspiracy and sentenced him to two years of prison. Rudnev has both Russian and Estonian citizenship and was recruited in 2013 by the FSB. He signed an agreement to co-operated with the Russian security service. He supplied the Russian with information about Estonian and allied military activity - specifically their deployments and movements in the country. The material included details about Estonia’s southeastern border guards, their locations and personnel data. He was paid in cash.
Pavel Romanov
Born in 1973, Romanov was convicted of working against Estoniann independence and territorial integrity. The Tartu county court sentenced him to four years and ten months imprisonment. An alien without citizenship, Romanov had been involved in operational work for the FSB since 1994. His signed agreement dates back to that year. He supplied the Russians with details about personnel working in the judiciary and law enforcement, their personal data and work related information. Included in this were descriptions of the work responsibilities and methods of the border guard in south east Estonian, security camera placements in the area and suggestions regarding the safest locations for crossing the border undetected. He also passed on information about military units in the area and their security systems.
Maksim Gruzdev
Born in 1983, the county court of Tartu sentenced Estonian citizen Gruzdev to four years imprisonment. The FSB recruited Gruzdev in 2013 and struck a signed agreement with him in Pskov. Till his arrest in October 2015 Geruzdev passed on information to the Russians about Estonia’s investigative and security services, KAPO personnel’s activities and was involved in various intelligence operationas in Estonia.
The common factor in all of the above recruitments is the membership of the individuals in criminal activities and groupings. Crossing the border illegally helps the FSB to force agreement. In these situations their capture by the Russians is enough pressure to make the recruitmment easy. Gruzdev for instance was active in smuggling illegal cigarettes.
KAPO’s report highlights those ”run of the mill” Estonian residents, including citizens, who have been coerced by the FSB to agree to illegal work on their behalf. In revious reports the cases involving the FSB have been about Estonians with access to state secrets, usually employed by the Estonian security services.
The report states that more often the typical FSB recruit is curently older than 43, who during the Soviet occupation had some contacts with the KGB. It’s these people that are targeted as they visit Russia. The report emphasizes that no longer is the FSB concentrating on important decision makers and those with access to classified material. The FSB is interested in all who can be used for verious assignments.
This does not mean that the FSB has lost interest in “highly placed” recuits. Anyone who is approached by the FSB while visiting Russia or for that matter in Estonia or some other country should realize that they have been chosen as a possible recruit. Pressure can be applied in the form of coercion through black-mail or the offer of lucrative remuneration.
Those who inform KAPO of such incidents have never been prosecuted, the report states.
The information that interests Russia is classical – Estonia’s domestic politics, foreign affairs, relations with allies, where allied military is depolyed, what is included in military exercises, the public’s sense of all this.
KAPO is a constant subject of intertest, also the foreign intelligence service, police and border guard services, the defence ministry, the defence league and foreign ministry. Of course of great interest will be the upcoming presidential campaign and all the players.
Laas Leivat

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