FSB: LEANER AND MEANER?

Federal Security Service Director Nikolai Kovalev told a newspaper interviewer that there are now only 45,000 agents in the FSB. However, he actively defended his agency’s record in recent years, saying that they have caught more foreign spies in the past 12 months than in any previous year. He also reported successes in fighting terrorism (especially the wave of bombings which has hit Russian cities) and in battling corruption. (Moskovsky komsomolets, July 4)

Finances Constraining Russia’s PfP Participation?