War in Ukraine created "once-in-a-generation opportunity" for recruitment of Russians: CIA director

Washington DC [US], July 2 : US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns has said discontent with the war in Ukraine has created a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" for the recruitment of Russians in the agency, CNN reported.

Burns in his remarks to the Ditchley Foundation in England, said: "Disaffection with the war will continue to gnaw away at the Russian leadership, beneath the steady diet of state propaganda and practised repression. That disaffection creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us at the CIA, at our core a human intelligence service. We're not letting it go to waste."

The CIA director pointed to a recent CIA outreach effort on Telegram, showing Russians how to contact the CIA securely on the dark web, which he said has garnered 2.5 million views in its first week, as per CNN.

"We're very much open for business," Burns said.

CIA officials involved in the project previously told CNN that Russia's invasion had created a historic opening for US intelligence and that a previous recruitment drive immediately following the launch of the invasion last year had been quite successful.

Meanwhile, according to a US official, CIA Director William Burns recently travelled to Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian intelligence officials.

The official told CNN: "Director Burns recently travelled to Ukraine, as he has done regularly since the beginning of Russia's recent aggression more than a year ago."

"As with other trips, the director met with his Ukrainian intelligence counterparts and President Zelenskyy, reaffirming the US commitment to sharing intelligence to help Ukraine defend against Russian aggression," he said.