Shadowy agency with military roots linked to host of crimes
Moscow’s military intelligence service traces its roots back to Tsarist Russia. Unlike the KGB, which was broken up following the collapse of the USSR, the GRU operates with the same structure as it did in the Communist era.
Its commanders report to the chief of staff of the armed forces and the ministry of defence, rather than the President of Russia like Moscow’s other intelligence agencies.
Sergei Skripal – the former spy targeted in the Salisbury attack – was previously a colonel in the GRU.
Emily Ferris, from the Royal United Services Institute defence think tank, said that although by the end of the Soviet period the GRU declined in importance and size, it “appears to have become increasingly prominent since its officers led Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014”, she said.
The military intelligence service has been blamed or implicated in assassinations, espionage and cyber warfare around the world. The US authorities believe the Democratic National Committee hack in the 2016 presidential election was the work of GRU agents. As well as being active in the annexation of Crimea, reports have also linked a GRU officer to the downing of Malaysian Air flight MH17 over Ukraine.