Only 13 percent of foreign intelligence staff exited Crimea - chief of foreign intelligence agency

Chief of the Foreign Intelligence Agency (FIA) Viktor Hvozd notes that only 13% of personnel in Crimea returned to the mainland Ukraine after the Russian annexation of the peninsula.

He made a statement at the presentation of the book The Secret Legion Ukrainian revolution at the press center of Ukrinform.

"I will not say in what state I had to head the Foreign Intelligence Agency ,you all know the situation of the national security institutions after Yanukovych fled. I was nominated chief when Crimea had already been occupied. Only 13 percent of the personnel at the intelligence agency moved from Crimea. All the others remained on the other side. I wouldn’t report the figure for the Donetsk and the Luhansk regions," the official said.

He noted that today the FIA is a patriotic organization of seasoned professionals, who, he said, were confused at the time when the agency was headed by Hvozd.

"The only thing - they were confused, we had to aid them. I never thought that we had to conduct educational classes for them. So, of course, we do not broadcast to the wide audience," he said.

Hvozd also believes that it may be harmful for foreign intelligence to report regularly on its activities to the public.

"As chief of the Foreign Intelligence Agency I believe that PR for the intelligence community is the way to nowhere. We need to move away from a process and get closer to the result," he noted

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