Spotlight | Russia
Kremlin secretly prepares for imminent military draft

The Intelligence Gazette
China-Italy talks, Polish tank rearmament, DGSI's new HQ, Consensus on intel classification in Congress

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community.

ItalyGiorgia Meloni closes door on China talks

PolandPiotr Trytek in charge of tank rearmament programme

FranceFirst spade in the ground for DGSI HQs in 2024

United StatesConsensus on intelligence overclassification in Congress underway

Russia
Russia's security apparatus split on immigrants in army

Russia's interior ministry is preparing a wave of raids on naturalised immigrants who have not yet registered for military service, so they can join the campaign in Ukraine, but the defence ministry is concerned about the future soldiers' loyalties.

Russia
FSB on alert as Wagner fighters head home

The return of these soldiers to their families is being closely monitored by the intelligence service, which fears social unrest. Many of these mercenaries have neither been paid nor received the social benefits they were promised, and refuse to join the regular forces.

Ukraine, United States
How Washington armoured Ukraine's border guards

The United States has been helping the Ukrainian border guard to boost its service since 2014. The lasting support and surveillance capacities it brings are proving vital to the unit in a time of war.

Russia
Presidential administration steps up its covert mobilisation effort

Despite official assurances that the mobilisation campaign is over, the Kremlin is making use of its regional administrative resources to bring in more troops. Different forms of pressure are being used to recruit at state-owned and parastatal companies and among vulnerable sections of the population.

Russia
Russia's religious institutions clash over military draft exemption

Mobilisation continues to divide Russia's ruling class and, behind it, the country's influential religious groups, who are actively taking part in the political debate on the war. Both the Orthodox Church and the Old Believers are trying to weigh in on discussions through their respective networks.