It was never likely Vladimir Putin would criticise his military intelligence agency on its birthday. But in carefully constructed comments, made at a celebration of 100 years of the under-fire agency, he offered his strongest backing yet.

Far from being reformed out of recognition, the “legendary” service should return to its historical name, the GRU, he said — and that would mean reinstating the word “intelligence” to its title.

“It’s not clear where the word 'intelligence”' went to,” he told his audience at the Russian Army Theatre in Moscow, to applause. “Intelligence is an important and integral part of military science.”

Founded within a year of the revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power, the Soviet intelligence agency became known as the Main Intelligence Directorate, or G.R.U., in 1940. It carried that title until 2010, when it was renamed the G.U., or Main Directorate, as part of a series of reforms by then Minister of Defence Anatoly Serdyukov.

The general direction of those liberal reforms was to separate civil and military roles. Unsurprisingly, they went down very badly with the military complex. The vast majority of officials — and the general public — continued to refer to the Main Directorate using its old name.

By indicating he shared their irritation with an “unfathomable” change, Putin seemed to be delivering a much-needed morale boost to the agency.

Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Show all 23 1 /23 Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Russian passports belonging to (top row) Oleg Sotnikov (left), Aleksei Morenets, (bottom row) Evgenii Serebriakov (left) and Alexey Minin, who have been named as the four GRU officers who tried to hack the global chemical weapons watchdog which is investigating the Salisbury nerve agent attack PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot On April 13 the officers parked a car carrying specialist hacking equipment outside the headquarters of the OPCW in The Hague Dutch Ministry of Defence/PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Specialist equipment intended for the alleged hacking of WiFi networks of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Russia's military intelligence service has been accused of trying to hack the global chemical weapons watchdog which is investigating the Salisbury nerve agent attack PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot The Dutch counter-terrorism officers intervened to disrupt the operation and the four GRU officers were ordered to leave the country Dutch Ministry of Defence/PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Mobile phones and a camera recovered from four GRU officers who were alleged to have hacked the WiFi networks of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot The four Russians arrived on diplomatic passports Netherlands Defence Ministry Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Alexey Minin, who has been named as one of the four GRU officers who tried to hack the global chemical weapons watchdog which is investigating the Salisbury nerve agent attack PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot A car carrying hacking equipment used by GRU officers, travelling on official Russian passports, parked near the headquarters of the OPCW in The Hague Dutch Ministry of Defence/PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Oleg Sotnikov, who has been named as one of the four GRU officers PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Hacking equipment belonging to four Russian officers Dutch Ministry of Defence/AP Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Evgenii Serebriakov, who has been named as one of the four GRU officers PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Equipment found in possession of four Russian citizens Reuters Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Photos of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and its surroundings taken on the 11 April, found on the phone of GRU officer Alexey Minin Dutch Ministry of Defence/PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Equipment found in possession of four Russian citizens REUTERS Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Aleksei Morenets, who has been named as one of the four GRU officers PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Undated handout photo dated issued by the Dutch Ministry of Defence of a car carrying hacking equipment used by GRU officers, travelling on official Russian passports, parked near the headquarters of the OPCW in The Hague. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday October 4, 2018. On April 13 the officers parked a car carrying specialist hacking equipment outside the headquarters of the OPCW in The Hague. At that point the Dutch counter-terrorism officers intervened to disrupt the operation and the four GRU officers were ordered to leave the country. See PA story POLITICS Russia. Photo credit should read: Dutch Ministry of Defence/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. Dutch Ministry of Defence Dutch Ministry of Defence/PA Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot A combo of a taxi bill and a map, with a ride from a street next to the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, GRU, to Sheremyetevo airport in Moscow, found in possession of one of four GRU officers AP Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Yevgeny Serebryakov, an alleged Russian agent AFP/Getty Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Dutch security services say they have foiled an attempted cyber attack targeting the international chemical weapons watchdog, during its investigations into the Salisbury attack. Netherlands Defence Ministry Netherlands Defence Ministry Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Dutch security services say they have foiled an attempted cyber attack targeting the international chemical weapons watchdog, during its investigations into the Salisbury attack. Netherlands Defence Ministry Netherlands Defence Ministry Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Dutch security services say they have foiled an attempted cyber attack targeting the international chemical weapons watchdog, during its investigations into the Salisbury attack. Netherlands Defence Ministry Netherlands Defence Ministry Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Dutch security services say they have foiled an attempted cyber attack targeting the international chemical weapons watchdog, during its investigations into the Salisbury attack. Netherlands Defence Ministry Netherlands Defence Ministry Dutch security services expel Russian spies over cyber plot Dutch security services say they have foiled an attempted cyber attack targeting the international chemical weapons watchdog, during its investigations into the Salisbury attack. Netherlands Defence Ministry Netherlands Defence Ministry

“This was a psychological and political show of support by Putin,” says Tatiana Stanovaya, CEO of the political analysis firm R.Politik. “He was telling them that he would support them to the end regardless of the failures and their poor fortunes.”

The GU/GRU’s centenary year has swung from highs to lows.

The service entered its 100th year in a buoyant state, having overcome twenty years of decay and job losses. For the first decade of Vladimir Putin’s rule, they were seen as the junior partner to Federal Security Service (FSB) and Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). But the second decade saw a turnaround. Their activist roles in the Syrian and Ukrainian campaigns earned them a place at the intelligence high table.

This was a psychological and political show of support by Putin. He was telling them that he would support them to the end regardless of the failures and their poor fortunes.” Tatiana Stanovaya, R.Politik

The service is ending the year amid disarray and derision. Its claims not to have been involved in the nerve agent attack in Salisbury look more ridiculous with every press conference. And to make matters worse, the unveiling of the two men suspected of carrying out the attack has apparently compromised a much larger agent database. Several hundred previously secret identities might have gone public.

For Mr Putin, those failures are secondary to a much larger struggle with the West, says Ms Stanovaya.

“He believes the GRU are the victims of this story and has made it very clear that you shouldn’t expect any radical changes in the service,” she says. “Even personnel changes, which may yet happen, will not take place immediately.”

The public show of support was not surprising, agrees Andrei Soldatov, author of The New Nobility and a veteran watcher of Russian security services. The president wanted to emphasise he was “fine” with the military — and G.R.U. by extension — playing a prominent role in Russian politics.

“There is a general consensus [across government] to let the active guys take all the heat — so they can carry on in the shadows.”

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The Kremlin’s focus has instead fallen on leaks that allowed activists to uncover the identities of agents. It is well-known that even the most sensitive government databases have been available online and in certain markets. The Kremlin wants to put an end to that. According to the Rosbalt news agency, which regularly “breaks” security agency news, arrests have already been made.