The Swedish security service (Säpo) announced on Monday that it had thwarted a Russian intelligence operation intended to discredit Sweden, in which an “agent” involved was working within a foreign diplomatic mission in Sweden.
The counterintelligence agency announced in a statement that it has “gathered information about a Russian intelligence operation and took action against it”, an operation that aimed to influence the decision-making process in Sweden and discredit the country, NATO, and the European Union, according to Euronews.
According to Säpo, “the intelligence operation has been planned and coordinated for some time by the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR”.
The agency did not specify within which diplomatic mission the alleged agent involved in the operation was working.
“One of the objectives of the operation was to gather information about the decision-making process in Sweden, in order to allow Russian intelligence services to carry out influence operations related to subjects that cause divisions in society, with the aim of undermining the Swedish decision-making process and discrediting Sweden, NATO, and the EU”, Säpo specified.
Christoffer Wedelin, the deputy head of operations at Säpo, stated that, after learning about the operation, “The Swedish security service has taken measures to protect essential Swedish objectives and to counteract the continuation of influence actions”.
Säpo has repeatedly indicated Russia, alongside China and Iran, as the main informational threats to Sweden.
Details, HERE