Britain's top spy said Friday that there is "absolutely no evidence" Russian President Vladimir Putin wants peace in Ukraine, using his final public remarks as head of MI6 to warn that the Kremlin leader is doubling down on a costly war he cannot win.
Sir Richard Moore, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, delivered his farewell speech at the British consulate in Istanbul, calling Putin's war strategy a disaster for Russia and vowing that the U.K. will keep recruiting sources to undermine it. "Putin has sought to convince the world that Russian victory is inevitable. But he lies. He lies to the world. He lies to his people. Perhaps he even lies to himself," Moore said.
The remarks came as Russia's war nears its third year, with Moscow controlling about a fifth of Ukrainian territory but facing mounting losses. Moore said Russia's battlefield gains were "incremental" and had come at staggering human cost. He cited more than a million Russian casualties, describing many as "poorly trained troops from Russia's poorest regions" who had been "fed into the meat grinder."
Moore, known inside MI6 by the codename "C," argued that Putin had "bitten off more than he can chew" by invading a neighbor that has since strengthened its national identity and accelerated its integration with the West. "Greater powers than Russia have failed to subjugate weaker powers than Ukraine," he said.
The outgoing spy chief said Putin is "mortgaging his country's future for his own personal legacy and a distorted version of history," adding that the war was accelerating Russia's long-term decline.
Moore used the occasion to launch MI6's new secure dark-web platform, Silent Courier, urging Russians opposed to the war to provide intelligence. "To those men and women in Russia who have truths to share and the courage to share them, I invite you to contact MI6," he said. "You will be working to bring peace to our continent, to protect the long-term interests and redeem the honour of your country."
He also highlighted the role of Iran, China and North Korea in sustaining Putin's war effort, warning that without such aid Russia might have faced an internal collapse or been forced to the negotiating table.
