Putin hails Russia’s spies, visits intelligence HQ AFP Journalists at Russia's top liberal business daily Vedomosti say they were barred from covering negative opinion polls of President Vladimir Putin. Sputnik/AFP/Alexey NIKOLSKY Putin visited the SVR headquarters in southern Moscow amid the controversy surrounding the work of the country’s security services. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hailed the country’s “courageous” spies as he visited the headquarters of the Foreign Intelligence Service to mark its 100th birthday. Putin, who has spent most of the coronavirus epidemic at his residences outside the Russian capital and on the Black Sea, visited the SVR headquarters in southern Moscow amid the controversy surrounding the work of the country’s security services.