Bogdan Frolov16:01, 07.06.25

Although Putin demonstrates the “inviolability of friendship” with China, he is suspicious of his ally.

Publicly, Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin proclaims the inviolability of his growing friendship with China, but in the corridors of the FSB (Internal Security Service) headquarters, the secret intelligence unit calls the Chinese “the enemy.”

The unit, which has not previously been publicly identified, warns that China poses a serious threat to Russia’s security. Its officials say Beijing is increasingly trying to recruit Russian spies and gain access to sensitive military technology, sometimes by luring disillusioned Russian scientists, The New York Times reports .

Intelligence officials say China is spying on Russian military activity in Ukraine to study Western weapons and tactics. They fear Chinese academics are laying the groundwork for territorial claims against Russia. They also say Chinese intelligence agents are spying in the Arctic under the cover of mining companies and university research centers.

All of these threats are outlined in an internal eight-page FSB planning document that outlines priorities for combating Chinese espionage. It is undated, which may indicate that it is a draft, but the context suggests that it was drafted in late 2023 or early 2024.

The document is said to provide the most detailed insight to date into Russian counterintelligence views on China. Russia has endured years of Western financial sanctions since the invasion, largely thanks to China.

After all, China is the largest buyer of Russian oil and a supplier of vital computer chips, software and military components. Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Putin have been pushing a “borderless” partnership, but a secret FSB memo shows that borders do exist.

“There is a political leadership, and they are all for rapprochement with China. And then there is intelligence and security services, and they are extremely suspicious,” says Andrei Soldatov, an expert on Russian intelligence services who lives in exile in the UK.

At the same time, Putin seems to be well aware of the risks of rapprochement with China and still continues to pursue a course of rapprochement, which may indicate that the US has little chance of changing this choice. “Putin believes that he can dive deeper into China’s embrace – and this is risky, but justified. We also see that there are people within the system who are skeptical about such a course,” says Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Eurasia Center.

Putin has spent years courting Xi, meeting him more than 40 times, and has deepened his partnership with China since the invasion of Ukraine. The countries have natural economic synergies: Russia is one of the world’s largest energy producers, and China is its largest consumer. That creates a delicate task for Russian counterintelligence agents. The document says they must contain the threat from Chinese intelligence without “adverse consequences for bilateral relations.”

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UNIAN reported earlier that Trump refuses to criticize China for helping Russia. This approach demonstrates the disunity in the positions of the US and Europe. After all, the foreign ministers of the G7 countries previously condemned Beijing for continuing to support the occupiers.

In addition, China has already begun to help Russia with drones . “Chinese manufacturers supply them with equipment, electronics, navigation, optical and telemetry systems, engines, microcircuits, processor modules, antenna systems, control boards, navigation,” said Oleg Aleksandrov, a representative of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.

(c)UNIAN 2025