MOSCOW, February 7 (RIA Novosti) - Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the operational and analytical work of counter-intelligence services against foreign attempts to gain access to Russia's state secrets needed to be improved.
"We not only have things that demand attention, but we have new military and civilian projects," the president told officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB). "In addition, the political situation is provoking strong interest."
Putin's comments came two weeks after the FSB announced it had exposed a ring of British spies in Moscow. The FSB identified four British intelligence officers who were allegedly operating in Moscow under diplomatic cover and seized a high-tech British spying device, disguised as a rock, which was used to contact agents.
On a separate issue, the president said the FSB, which he headed from 1998 to 1999, must respond firmly to acts of extremism, and not let incitement and calls to inter-ethnic and religious discord go unpunished.
