According to a prominent Russian politician, Western spies and “agents” are funding their activities via cryptocurrency.
According to News.ru, during a speech he gave in parliament on February 20, Andrei Lugovoy—the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption—made the remarks.
According to Lugovoy, the only means to replenish the funds held by foreign agents is “cryptocurrency.” That they were “instruments of soft power” was his contention.
That these “agents” reported to “the US State Department and the British Foreign Ministry” was the legislator’s assertion. Furthermore, he stated:
“They are highly trained spies from another country. We also need to be aware that the intelligence services are mostly responsible for coordinating their operations. […] They wouldn’t be so dumb as to wire funds from a Geneva account to a Moscow account. They can only reload their wallets with cryptocurrency now.”
The government’s apparent failure to initiate crypto regulation was a point of complaint that Lugovoy repeated.
He said that if such laws were in place, “foreign agents” and spies would be unable to get cryptocurrency. According to Lugovoy, Russia’s crypto policy is “poor to nasty” as of earlier this month. He spoke out against the government’s lack of crypto regulation, saying:
“The absence of oversight in Russia’s cryptocurrency industry facilitates the implementation of sanctions imposed by the West on our nation. In doing so, it is threatening Russia’s anti-sanctions initiatives.”
Aiming to resolve the deadlock between senior ministries, law enforcement, and the Central Bank—which is skeptical of cryptocurrency—he had previously criticized the crypto working groups that had been formed.
“By reporting yearly on their income and spending,” Lugavoy meant that Russian authorities should be able to track down “foreign agents and their families.”
According to the legislator, “apartments and dachas [countyside vacation residences]” are home to several “foreign agents” in Russia.
According to Lugovoy, these people “operate under the supervision of foreign intelligence services and embassies.” His research led him to the conclusion that “foreign operatives” may go about Russia “unchecked.”
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