One of the symptoms of the worsening relationship between Russia and the West has been a growing willingness by other countries to criticise the revival of Moscow's espionage operations.

Joel Brenner, head of the US's Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX), warned in an interview with National Public Radio on 6 June that Russian intelligence operations in the US had reached "Cold War levels". He added that Moscow was "sending over an increasing and troubling number of intelligence officers". Brenner made similar comments to the American Bar Association in March, suggesting a deliberate attempt to raise the public profile of Russian intelligence operations overseas.

US warnings have been echoed by other countries. Since 2005, the British Security Service (MI5) has been warning that the Russians once again posed a substantial espionage threat. By the start of 2007, more than 30 Russian intelligence officers had been identified as operating in the UK. On 11 June, Austria arrested a Russian space agency official on charges of espionage. Last year, Canada deported a Russian spy (its first since 1996), as did Sweden, while a US sailor was arrested and convicted of spying for Moscow. The Japanese authorities have also reported increased espionage: in the past two years, two Russians have been accused of involvement in separate intelligence operations, aimed at acquiring classified details of advanced military electronics.

While the Federal Security Service (FSB) has done especially well under President Vladimir Putin a former director of the agency and has consolidated its role as the primary domestic security agency, in 2006 it also formally acquired a limited external intelligence role. Following the passage of the law 'On Counteracting Extremist Activities', it gained rights and powers to operate against terrorists and political targets abroad.