Frederick Forsyth: Putin Is Full Of Bluff But Russia Is Weak

Frederick Forsyth, the author of the classic thriller, The Day of the Jackal and The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, offers his take on Putin and Russia’s military and intelligence capabilities in his column in the British newspaper, the Express.

Research into my new novel reveals that the globe-wide expulsions of Russian spies after the Skripal affair has damaged Moscow’s espionage network far more seriously than we at first thought.

Our counter-spooks chose well when they advised the Prime Minister whom to chuck out. Entire networks have been crippled and will not be easily or quickly reestablished.

And this has not been just in the UK. We also advised foreign governments pretty shrewdly as well.

With our usual self-deprecation we tend to prevent the British people knowing just how good our own services really are and how they are respected by our friends and allies.

… Vladimir Putin postures and threatens but the real state of his armed forces is a fraction of what he claims. Much is run down, out of date, obsolescent.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/frederick-forsyth/951954/russia-uk-politics-putin-moscow-spy-scripal-espionage-network 

You can also read my Washington Times piece on the history of Russian assassinations via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2018/04/from-russia-with-love-my-washington.html