Overview
- SVR director Sergey Naryshkin told reporters that Western states target the CIS’s development as an independent center of power.
- He asserted that several Western countries, chiefly NATO’s European wing, pursue the goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.
- Naryshkin said public calls to defeat Russia have quieted somewhat over the past year, though he argued the objective persists.
- The comments were delivered following a gathering of CIS intelligence leaders in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
- State news agency RIA Novosti published the remarks on October 17, 2025, quoting Naryshkin’s statements.