By Miltos Sakellaris
In February, for about 12 days, a small group of undercover agents decided to go to bed early every night. They knew the forecasts of the secret services around the world for “Russian invasion” in Ukraine: if the worst nightmare for the world community was confirmed the war would surely start in the early morning hours. They should have rested because they may have slept again long enough. They knew that for a long time they might not have the option of lying quietly in their beds, close to their families.
Most intelligence officials, even as they watched the news on February 24, could not believe that the war had just begun. “It was hard to believe it was actually happening until I woke up early that morning and turned on the radio. That day people went from “Why are you so hysterical?” in “Why weren’t you more hysterical?” says one official at the BBC.
Another member of the intelligence service recalls that despite being right in predicting the Russian invasion “I did not feel any satisfaction, but I felt that for months I had tried to stop the war.”
The first signs of war
The first clear “messages” from the Russian camp came about a year ago. The US and UK secret services have collected satellite images showing Russian troops gathering near Ukraine. Most analysts at the time could not understand Moscow’s real intentions. But analysts have had little understanding of Moscow’s real intentions. THE Russian President Vladimir Putin he believed at the time that he had to act quickly to fulfill his ambition to bring Ukraine back into his country’s sphere of influence. And he believed that the only way to do that was to use force. He had to win the battle with blood. And he proved it in every way.
“It felt like it had a window of opportunity”says a person who was directly involved in the “secret operation to prevent war”. “Since the summer we have seen a small group of people planning a full-scale military invasion across the country”explains a Western intelligence official, according to the same BBC publication. About the exact origin of this information will surely remain a seven-sealed secret, which most agents and members of espionage groups around the world will take with them to their graves.
The actions of the White House
The information was specific. And they reached a high level up to his ears US President Joe Biden. In November the CIA Director William Burns traveled to Moscow – to warn that Washington knew what was planned. The trip, of course, was not kept secret. It was the first time that official Western lips had told Russian officials that their country could seriously intend to take action against Ukraine. The next phase of the secret operation until then was the disclosure of part of the information. One person who took part in the discussion, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to the BBC, recalls being asked, “What is the point of knowing all this if we can do nothing about it?”
In Washington, the Director of the National Intelligence Service, Avril Hines, – who briefed NATO allies in November – and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan are believed to have pushed for the material to be made public. Declassification experts, trained to understand the dangers, began working around the clock to determine what information could be shared with the global community. Their goal was for the information to reach every home so that everyone knew the truth. A key advantage in the “information battle” was then the ability to use satellite imagery. In early December, details of Russia’s plans to invade Ukraine with a force of 175,000 men were published in the Washington Post. In London, the information – coming from GCHQ and MI6 – has been treated with almost distrust in some quarters. A common problem – inside and outside government – was that people simply could not believe that a major war could break out in Europe in the 21st century. Eventually, American and British spies believe that the release of this material deprived Moscow of its opportunity to justify invading its own people and other countries as a “defensive move.”
The secret agents may not have prevented the war, but surely everyone knew exactly what was going to happen and what the plans of the powerful man in Moscow, Vladimir Putin, were. The only thing that is certain is that from the dawn of February 24 until today, some spies have lost their sleep, while others are sleeping with a clear conscience.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
