Russia can bring Ukrainian special services back to their senses, warns intelligence chief

MOSCOW

Russia can bring the Ukrainian special services back to their senses "within reasonable limits," warned Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Russian intelligence service.

Bortnikov, head of the Russian Federal Security Service, accused Kyiv of "constantly provoking" Russia during an interview with Pavel Zarubin for the VGTRK broadcaster, a part of which the correspondent published on Sunday.

"They are constantly provoking us into certain steps, into certain actions," Bortnikov noted. "Of course, we can, within reasonable limits, bring them to their senses."

The head of the agency did not specify what measures he was referring to but called them specific.

Earlier, Bortnikov stated that law enforcement agencies would combat Kyiv's attempts to recruit and "send Russian children to rob elderly women."

Meanwhile, Russian defense experts reacted strongly through social media platforms and mainstream broadcast interviews to a Saturday statement by Yevgeny Mezhevikin, deputy head of Ukraine's General Staff political directorate, who announced a reduction in soldier training programs abroad.

Russian experts believe that the reduction in soldier training programs abroad is due to mass desertion, with soldiers seizing the opportunity to seek political asylum.

Mezhevikin stated that Kyiv is partially abandoning international military training in favor of domestic training, citing logistics and a lack of practical experience among Western instructors as reasons.

"They are detached from our realities and current combat operations," he said.

According to him, training in Ukraine allows for faster adaptation to the situation at the front and eliminates time spent on transferring personnel between countries.