Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

Responsive image


Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)

Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation
Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации
Emblem of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation

Flag of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation
Agency overview
FormedDecember 1991 (1991-12)
Preceding agency
JurisdictionRussia
HeadquartersYasenevo, Moscow, Russia
55°35′02″N 37°31′01″E / 55.584°N 37.517°E / 55.584; 37.517
EmployeesClassified; estimated 13,000 in 2010[1]
Annual budgetClassified
Minister responsible
Agency executive
Child agency
  • Institute of Intelligence Information
Websitesvr.gov.ru
Footnotes
Building details
Headquarters of the SVR in Moscow

The Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (Russian: Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации, romanized: Sluzhba vneshney razvedki Rossiyskoy Federatsii, IPA: [ˈsluʐbə ˈvnʲɛʂnʲɪj rɐˈzvʲɛtkʲɪ]) or FIS RF (Russian: СВР РФ, romanized: SVR RF) is Russia's external intelligence agency, focusing mainly on civilian affairs. The SVR RF succeeded the First Chief Directorate (PGU) of the KGB in December 1991.[2] The SVR has its headquarters in the Yasenevo District of Moscow with its director reporting directly to the President of the Russian Federation.

Unlike the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the SVR is tasked with intelligence and espionage activities outside the Russian Federation. It works together with the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (Russian: Главное разведывательное управление, romanized: Glavnoye razvedyvatel'noye upravleniye, IPA: [ˈglavnəjə rɐzˈvʲɛdɨvətʲɪlʲnəjə ʊprɐˈvlʲenʲɪjə], GRU), its military-joint affairs espionage counterpart, which reportedly deployed six times as many spies in foreign countries as the SVR in 1997.[3] The SVR is also authorized to negotiate anti-terrorist cooperation and intelligence-sharing arrangements with foreign intelligence agencies, and provides analysis and dissemination of intelligence to the Russian president.[4]

Any information pertaining to specific identities of staff employees (officers) of the SVR is legally classified as a state secret; since September 2018, the same applies to non-staff personnel (i.e., informers and recruited agents).[5]

  1. ^ "Profile: Russia's SVR intelligence agency". BBC News. 29 June 2010.
  2. ^ The Security Organs of the Russian Federation: A Brief History 1991–2004 by Jonathan Littell, Psan Publishing House 2006.
  3. ^ "The Jamestown Foundation". Archived from the original on 25 November 2006.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mitrokhin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Путин засекретил и сделал гостайной данные о всех "внештатниках" Службы внешней разведки (СВР) NEWSru 4 September 2018.

Previous Page Next Page