FSB says Ukrainian spies are posing as RAND employees to recruit Russians

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia’s FSB security service accused Ukrainian spy agencies on Thursday of trying to recruit Russian citizens and obtain military information by posing as staff of U.S. non-profit think tank RAND Corp.

“The FSB has received information about representatives of the Ukrainian special services using the cover of the influential American RAND Corporation for recruiting activities in the territory of the Russian Federation and obtaining limited information about the Russian Federation’s special military operation in Ukraine,” state news agency RIA said.

RAND is already banned in Russia as an “undesirable organisation”.

A RAND spokesperson said the organisation denied any involvement in the alleged recruiting activities.

“We cannot speak to what Ukrainian officials may have said or done, but RAND’s researchers and analysts do not engage in the kinds of efforts the FSB alleged,” the spokesperson said.

“RAND is a nonpartisan research organisation that has been providing objective, evidence-based research and analysis to inform U.S. policymaking for nearly eight decades.”

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Angus MacSwan)