The chief of the outgoing Mi6 says that Putin has “bitten more than he can chew” in Ukraine | Espionage

The outgoing chief of the MI6 issued an overwhelming indictment of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, saying that Vladimir Putin “bit more than he can chew”.

Richard Moore, known in the Mi6 under the name of C, used his farewell speech in Istanbul to say that even if Russia was unlikely to win on the battlefield, his agency sought to recruit spies in Russia and in the world to retaliate.

“Putin sought to convince the world that the Russian victory is inevitable, but he lies. He lies in the world. He lies in his people. Maybe he even lies,” said Moore. “But we must not believe it. Or to force him for force that he does not have.”

All the Russian victories on the battlefield have remained increasing, said Moore, and engaged massive costs while the president’s army was far from his initial objectives to quickly capture all of Ukraine.

The rise in costs now included more than a million victims-a quarter of them “badly trained troops from the poorest regions of Russia” which were “introduced into the meat crusher,” he said.

Former ambassador to Ankara, Moore seemed to choose Istanbul as a place to launch a campaign to recruit spies due to the large number of Russian visitors to Turkey as well as its proximity to Ukraine.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has long sought to position his country – a member of NATO and the host of slow peace talks who came little – as an important interlocutor in Moscow.

The outgoing espionage leader has also cited other threats to British and world security, including Iran. Millions of Iranians visit neighboring Turkey every year and Moore added that the MI6 recruitment offer via a new portal on the Dark web was open to everyone.

“Our door is still open,” he said. Citing his supplications to Russian citizens during a previous visit to Prague, he added: “Come spy with us.”

Iran, China and North Korea all helped Putin war in Ukraine, said Moore, allowing Putin to avoid a possible internal collapse or an inevitable ceasefire contract.

“In the end, if we hold our nerve, Putin will have to reconcile with the fact that he has the choice to risk an economic and political crisis which threatens his own rule or to conclude a reasonable agreement,” he said. “He was a choice he should have faced earlier, if not for the external help he had received.”

Moore used his speech to launch the MI6 secure messaging platform, named Silent Courier, as a means for potential recruits to contact the organization and offer their services. He presented this as a way to help Great Britain and its allies to repel the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and perhaps accelerate the decline of Putin’s reign.

“Not all Russians subscribe to poutinism,” he said. “Some keep their heads down and try to continue their lives as best they can. Some, like Alexei Navalny, openly resist and die for their beliefs, but others do it secretly – working for Mi6.”

Promising Russian potential recruits security and protection, Moore has led offer as an opportunity to make peace in Europe.

“To these men and women in Russia who have truths to share and the courage to share them, I invite you to contact the MI6. You will work to bring peace to our continent, to protect long -term interests and buy the honor of your country. ”