Five Eyes Confronted Kremlin Days Before Ukraine Invasion
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- Five Eyes officials confronted a Kremlin diplomat in person at the Russian diplomatic mission in New York in February 2022, warning of consequences if Russia attacked Ukraine; Russia invaded roughly a week later on Feb. 24
- Richard Kerbaj's book "The Defector: The Untold Story of the KGB Agent who Exposed the CIA and Saved MI5" first disclosed the meeting, drawing on accounts from two former senior FBI officials
- Former FBI assistant director Mike Driscoll attended the meeting for the Americans alongside a CSIS representative; Alan Kohler, a former FBI counter-intelligence official, helped coordinate but did not attend
- The warning message stated that "a Five Eyes intelligence campaign would be waged against Russia" if it invaded, according to Kerbaj's account — the specific consequences for proceeding were read out at the meeting
- Both Driscoll and Kohler say they are unaware of another occasion in which the Five Eyes confronted an adversary at the adversary's diplomatic mission with such a joint group in tow
- Kerbaj said the meeting was "intentionally done to bypass the diplomatic process" and that "that mission would have been authorized from the very top," underscoring the sign-off required
- The agencies involved declined to comment on or confirm participation, and the Russian diplomatic mission did not respond to CBC's request for comment
Why it matters: The episode reveals that Western intelligence had firm enough evidence of Russia's invasion plans to authorize an unprecedented joint in-person warning — yet Moscow proceeded with the invasion regardless, making the post-invasion Five Eyes intelligence campaign the warning's actual lasting consequence rather than deterrence.
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