MOSCOW SAYS SPIES ARE PROLIFERATING…

The head of Russia’s chief counter-intelligence agency, the Foreign Security Service, said in an interview on July 4 that the activities of foreign spies in Russia have risen to levels unprecedented since World War II. Nikolai Kovalev also said, however, that his agency’s recent creation of a telephone "hotline" — to recruit as double agents Russians currently working for foreign intelligence services — has been highly successful and has compelled several of those foreign services to stop their work with Russian agents. (AP, Itar-Tass, July 4)

…As Ex-Diplomat Sentenced for Spying.