Our door is always open: MI6 chief appeals to Russians to defect to West

Tugs of conscience: the MI6 boss’s appeal is to Russians horrified by the war in Ukraine. He said their bids to move to the West would be handled with discretion

- Nicholas Cecil

BRITAIN’S top spy today appealed to potential Russian defectors increasingly dismayed at Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine amid growing questions over the tightness of his grip on power.

In only his second public speech since taking over as head of the Secret Intelligence Service, Sir Richard Moore travelled to Prague to deliver a targeted message to those inside Russia’s political, military, economic and security systems. “Many Russians are wrestling with the same dilemmas and the same tugs of conscience as their predecessors did in 1968,” he said, referring to how the crushing of the Prague Spring 55 years ago was a “breaking point” for some Russians who turned to the West.

Sir Richard, right, added: “I invite them to do what others have already done this past 18 months and join hands with us. Our door is always open.”

The spy chief, known as C, was seeking to seize the moment when some Russians, horrified by the war in Ukraine, appalled by the military tactics costing so many tens of thousands of lives and maybe now growing increasingly disillusioned with Putin’s regime, may decide to take a brave step to try to end the bloodshed.