Russian spies are back - and more dangerous than ever

The Kremlin’s intelligence agencies have learned from their mistakes in recent years

Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR)

It is unusual for spymasters to taunt their rivals openly. But last month Bill Burns, the director of the cia, could not resist observing that the war in Ukraine had been a boon for his agency. The remark might well have touched a nerve in Russia’s “special services”, as the countr…