FT reported on the growth of Russian intelligence activities in

Russian intelligence services are expanding their activities in Europe at such a speed that counterintelligence cannot keep up, diplomatic and intelligence sources told the Financial Times.

One of the newspaper's sources said that dozens of Russian intelligence operatives are now operating in Germany, France and Belgium. Officials said there were three main types of Russian agents in the region.

One of the FT's interlocutors called Austria the "real aircraft carrier" of Russia's secret activities. According to a source in the country's diplomatic circles, there was a period when the Austrian security service - the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism - was considered so compromised that it was temporarily suspended from European intelligence-sharing programs. The diplomat called the Ministry of Defense of the country "practically a division of the GRU." The Austrian government declined to comment on the anonymous speculation, but said the government was trying to reform the counterintelligence agencies.

The authorities of the United Kingdom believe that they have managed to significantly reduce the number of Russian agents and now their number is one, a source in the government told the FT.