Russian SVR Chief Tells How He Stole Scientific Research From The West

• 10.12.2025, 22:53

Sergei Naryshkin spoke for the first time about his "service" in Soviet intelligence.

Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin has spoken for the first time about his "service" in Soviet intelligence in the 1980s. He wrote about it in an article for the Russian magazine "Razvedchik".

The SVR chief said that in the 1980s he served in a residency in Brussels and was tasked with gathering information about scientific research in the field of AIDS.

The country's leadership instructed scientific and technical intelligence officers to ensure that they received information about the world's major research in the field. Naryshkin said that techniques and drugs for diagnosing AIDS were "extracted," which allowed the USSR to begin fighting the disease.