Russia's federal security service, the FSB, is reportedly carrying out a large-scale "overhaul" of its domestic security organs over alleged data leaks to Ukraine, a think tank has said.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, made the assessment in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine on Wednesday.
It comes nearly 14 months into the war and as tensions grow in Russia over security concerns ahead of an anticipated spring counteroffensive from Ukraine.
Russian state-run news agency Tass reported Wednesday that over the past few weeks, the FSB and the Main Directorate of the Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) have been conducting mass checks at the Moscow Central District Internal Affairs Directorate and several Moscow district police offices.
These have followed "the leakage of data from Russian security forces at the request of Ukrainian citizens," the ISW said.
Tass cited law enforcement agencies as saying that the inspections were being carried out at Russia's Internal Affairs Directorate for the Central District, as well as in regional departments of internal affairs bodies.
Some Russian police officers have been detained, the ISW said, citing another Russian source.
The ISW said the reported FSB and MVD raids on the Moscow police departments are occurring against the backdrop of a series of arrests and dismissals of prominent members of Rosgvardia (Russian National Guard).
"The Kremlin may be pushing for such arrests and investigations in order to conduct an overhaul of the domestic security apparatus to oust officials who have fallen out of Kremlin favor and consolidate further control [of] internal security organs," it said.
According to Tass, some police officers leaked data on Russian security forces to "customers," some of whom were Ukrainian citizens, in exchange for a "monetary reward."
Independent Russian newspaper The Moscow Times reported Wednesday that mass layoffs have begun among Moscow's police force as a result of the alleged leaking of data.
"FSB officers have been 'cleansing' the Internal Affairs Directorate for the Central Administrative District and other district police departments in the center of Moscow for several weeks in a row," it said.
In Moscow's Tagansky district, three employees were detained, while several more were detained in the Arbat police department. The deputy head of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the Central Administrative District, police chief Alexei Shchipov, had resigned, the newspaper reported.
Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Russia's and Ukraine for comment
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Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
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