British citizenship offer to Russian defectors ‘will make Putin paranoid

Russian officials appalled by the war in Ukraine are being offered British citizenship to defect and pass secrets to UK intelligence agencies.
Three UK intelligence sources and a former Russian informant have told İnews media outlet that British citizenship and cash payments are being used by UK government agencies in certain circumstances to persuade disgruntled members of Vladimir Putin’s regime to hand information to the UK.
It comes after the head of MI6 last year issued a public plea to Russians angry with the invasion to “join hands” with the UK and “share secrets” to help end the war in Ukraine.
The UK’s offer of British citizenship to Russian defectors who hand over secret intelligence is a weapon of “psychological warfare” against Vladimir Putin that will make him “paranoid”, a former Foreign Office expert has said.
Professor Mark Galeotti – now a Senior Associate Fellow at defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute and director of Russia-focused research firm Mayak Intelligence – said that the tool would not only bring in intelligence sources but make Putin “paranoid”. He said the citizenship deals were a “two pronged attack”.
“On the one hand – and this is something Putin must be worried about – there is a possibility precisely of people wanting to defect or pass information to the Brits, in the hope of getting this particular advantage of citizenship,” he said.
“But on the other hand, the very paranoia that it engenders within the hearts of Putin and his fellow security state figures is also a useful weapon. Because it will mean they will look askance at officials who perhaps have travelled to Britain in the past, or have other connections like that. So these kind of overtures are often part of psychological warfare operations to spread divisions and suspicion within the Russian elite.”