Sergei Naryshkin: Former Spy Echoing Putin’s Stance
Sergei Naryshkin is the Head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Agency. He is known to be a ‘silovik’- a member of Putin’s trusted inner circle- known for his anti-Western stance. Naryshkin's most defining moment occurred approximately 40 years ago, when he met Vladimir Putin at the KGB's regional headquarters in Leningrad. In the midst of unrealised growth and military decline, the Soviet Union was under party chairman Leonid Brezhnev. Both Putin and Naryshkin had decided that the KGB, perhaps the most powerful Soviet institution outside the Soviet Union, seemed like the best place for them to achieve their goals. During the course of a year, Putin and Naryshkin learned the essentials of spycraft from veteran foreign intelligence officers.
Eventually, as a diplomat, Naryshkin was stationed in Brussels, a hub for NATO and other European multilateral institutions. Naryshkin would work in the embassy's economic section by day, and by night, he would recruit spies to steal Western science and technology secrets t. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Naryshkin joined tSt Petersburg’s city government following his departure from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. Like many city officials there in the mid-1990s, including Putin, he got involved in economic development and foreign investments. In combining his government and business positions, he became very wealthy.
The rise of Naryshkin in the Kremlin began in 2004 with his appointment as Deputy Chief of the Economic Directorate within the President's office, coinciding with Putin's second presidential term. He was promoted again shortly after, achieving a ministerial rank . His rise continued in 2007, following his appointment to Deputy Prime Minister. In 2008, following the accession of Dmitry Medvedev to President, Naryshkin was appointed Chief of Staff to the new administration. Following that, in 2011, he was selected to represent United Russia, the government's party, in Duma's state elections. In spite of having no prior experience in parliament, he not only won office, but was also elected to the role of speaker.
As speaker, Naryshkin played a major role in escalating Russian foreign policy assertiveness and geopolitical revisionism. Following Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014, he was included on the United States' and European Union's list of Russian officials sanctioned. Despite the sanctions imposed against him, he continued to claim that Russia's actions were justified by Ukraine's political developments, just like other members of Putin's inner circle.
Naryshkin has been publicly critical of the West, arguing that there is no doubt that the inevitable destruction of the liberal-totalitarian regimes of the West will also improve the world's openness, fairness, and justice. Naryshkin has also expressed the belief that most people worldwide recognise that Russia is on the side of truth. Similar to other top Russian officials, Naryshkin also responds to critics of Putin with crude and demeaning expressions. For example, Naryshkin has called Alexey Navalny ‘the Berlin patient,’ a sarcastically referring to Navalny’s hospitalisation in Germany after his poisoning.
In relation to the war in Ukraine, Naryshkin has compared Ukraine's government to the Nazis who invaded and occupied much of Russia between 1941 and 1945 and compared life in Ukraine to ‘the worst years of Hitler’s occupation.’ He has also condemned the reaction of the West, stating that Western countries have been aggressively propagating neo-Nazi ideas, threatening ethnic cleansing, and attacking Soviet war memorials. According to Naryshkin, it was not appropriate to discuss a new Cold War between Russia and the West since the situation was already ‘hot’. Nonetheless, according to Naryshkin, the situation was blamed entirely on the West due to taking the conflict to the Russian borders. In addition, Naryshkin has claimed world powers are trying to 'cancel' Russia -- and to destroy Russia as a state.
There is no doubt that Naryshkin has a close relationship with Putin and shares his views on the West and the war in Ukraine. In addition, just like Putin, Naryshkin is highly critical of the Ukrainian pro-Western government, calling it a ‘true dictatorship.’ However, evidence indicates that Putin plays the leading role in the relationship. For example, in February 2022, the world witnessed a tense exchange between Putin and Naryshkin over eastern Ukraine during an important meeting of the Russian Security Council. Namely, Putin interrupted Naryshkin repeatedly at the meeting, asking him to 'speak plainly.' In addition, Naryshkin had reportedly provided Putin with erroneous advice, suggesting that people in Ukraine would welcome Russian troops as liberators, something that is likely to erode Naryshkin’s standing. This suggests that in relation to the war in Ukraine, Naryshkin is likely to play a supportive rather than an advisory role.