The US sharply rejected allegations by the chief of the KGB's main successor agency that Washington had used non-governmental organizations and the Peace Corps for espionage.
Nikolai Patrushev, director of the Federal Security Service, made the accusations Thursday and directed similar allegations at British, Saudi and Kuwaiti groups.
A statement from the US Embassy on Friday said Washington "categorically rejects charges ... that American non-governmental organizations are being used to carry out intelligence operations against Russia in the guise of charitable and other activities. Moreover, allegations that the US Peace Corps has been involved in intelligence activities are completely unfounded and untrue."
Patrushev said the groups were being used not only for espionage but to promote political upheaval in former Soviet republics.
The Kremlin has watched with displeasure as popular uprisings sparked government changes in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan over the past three months. All three countries are part of what Russia regards as its historical sphere or influence. Key figures in those uprisings have had contact with Western democracy-promoting groups that Russia accuses of fomenting revolution. Among those groups is the International Republican Institute, which gets most of its money from the US government.
The embassy statement did not mention the IRI by name, but said that Russians who have worked with the Peace Corps and NGOs "are now taking more active roles in the civic and economic loves of their communities."
The Peace Corps pulled out of Russia in 2003 amid spying allegations. When the program was closed "the Russian government expressed its gratitude for the assistance Peace Corps had provided," the embassy statement said.
Yesterday, the state-run Kuwaiti News Agency said the country's charge d'affaires in Moscow met with a Foreign Ministry official and delivered a letter denying the allegations about his country.
Charge Abdul-Wahab al-Saqer was quoted as saying Patrushev's accusations were "absolutely baseless."
Russia's neighbor Belarus is widely expected to see rising pro-democracy activity, with last year's Orange Revolution in neighboring Ukraine encouraging opposition to hardline Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
On Friday, Stepan Sukhorenko, head of Belarus' security service, which has retained the Soviet-era acronym KGB, was quoted by the news agency Interfax as saying "We are well aware of preparations from abroad to change the powers in Belarus."
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
RSS