CIA Posts Instructions on Instagram for Would-Be Russian Spies Motivated by Anti-War Sentiment

Man typing at his laptop computer at night.Photo: Westend61/Getty

The instructions detail how to access CIA’s darknet site, which is accessible via the Tor browser and routes internet traffic through multiple third parties so that a user’s identity is masked.

In the post, the CIA added, “We urge you to take all appropriate measures to protect yourself. Your safety is above all.”

Some Russians have indeed turned against PresidentVladimir Putinin the midst of their country’s invasion, fleeing to neighboring countries or protesting in the streets.

But questions abound about high-ranking military officials or members of Russian elite that might turn on Putin and assist the U.S.

“The West will try to bet on the so-called fifth column, on traitors … to divide our society,” Putin saidin a March speech.

The message from the spy agency comes more than two months after Russian forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.

More than 5.5 million have fled the country as refugees — and half are children,according to the United Nations. Millions more have been displaced inside Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine.ANDREY BORODULIN/AFP via Getty

With NATO forces amassed in the region, various countries are offering aid or military support to the resistance. Ukraine’s PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyhas called for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.

Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.

“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”

source: people.com