Nato hopeful Finland says it has substantially weakened Russian spy operations

FILE – Finnish border guards check a Russian vehicle at the Vaalimaa border check point in Virolahti, Finland, on Sept. 25, 2022. Expulsions of Russian intelligence officers and visa refusals have substantially weakened Moscow’s intelligence operations in neighboring Finland in the past year, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service said Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva via AP, File)

Expulsions of Russian intelligence officers and visa refusals have substantially weakened Moscow’s intelligence operations in neighbouring Finland in the past year, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service said.

The intelligence agency, known by the abbreviation SUPO, said in a statement that Russian intelligence had been “squeezed” in the Nordic country because of the agency’s ability to compromise spy operations last year.