US fostering Islamic terrorists for attack: Russian spy service
What's the story
Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has claimed it received inputs that the United States (US) is grooming Islamic terrorists to attack targets in Russia and the former Soviet Union, Reuters reported. It further alleged that the US recruited as many as 60 militants from outfits affiliated with the Islamic State and al Qaeda and is training them at its military base in Syria.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The SVR was part of the KGB, the primary security agency of the Soviet Union. While Russia and the US have been arch-enemies since World War II, their diplomatic ties have reached a new low since the Cold War in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. Both countries accuse each other of expansionism and conspiring to bring the other's empire down.
Statement
US attracting immigrants from North Caucasus, Central Asia: SVR
In a statement, the SVR claimed the militants receiving training would be tasked with plotting and carrying out terrorist attacks against diplomats, civil servants, law enforcement officers, and armed forces personnel. The US is trying to attract immigrants from the Russian North Caucasus and Central Asia, it alleged. Meanwhile, Kyiv has claimed that Russia recruited Kurdish mercenaries for the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Details
Russian forces advance 2km into Ukraine's territory
This development comes as the Russian defense ministry said that its forces broke the Ukrainian forces' resistance and advanced two kilometers to the west in four days. Separately, the US has also asked its citizens to leave Russia immediately in view of the Russia-Ukraine war. To recall, SVR head Sergei Naryshkin met Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William Joseph Burns in Turkey last year.
Nord
US covertly blew up Nord Stream pipelines: US journalist
Meanwhile, in a recent report, American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed that the September bombing of the undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines was clandestinely orchestrated by the US. The Pulitzer Prize-winning scribe alleged that the White House wanted to reduce Western Europe's energy dependence on Russia. Western leaders blamed Russia for blowing up the Nord Stream, which the latter sought to leverage for negotiations.