Putin’s quiet cyber push in India

Russia is working to co-opt part of India’s booming tech sector to forge a technological alliance to counter the West and boost its standing with China, in a campaign led by a former U.S.-based deep-cover spy, documents show.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin makes his first visit to India since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has offered technology transfers to allow India to produce its Su-57 stealth fighter jet. In the background, a cohort of top former Russian foreign intelligence operatives has also mounted an effort to expand Russia’s influence into India’s cybersecurity and information technology sectors, according to documents obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post.

The efforts are led by Andrei Bezrukov, the Russian spy whose double life in Boston as business consultant Donald Heathfield became the inspiration for the TV show “The Americans.” Bezrukov now serves as the head of the Russian Association for the Export of Technological Sovereignty and, according to European security officials, still works closely with Russian foreign intelligence.

Read more at Mumbai Mirror