In August 2025, Putin replaced a Kremlin soft power directorate with a new body under Vadim Titov, continuing espionage and influence operations in post-Soviet states, notably Kyrgyzstan, using personnel linked to the FSB and sanctioned figures like Ilan Shor.

The Kremlin's reorganization of its overseas influence and espionage operations culminated in August 2025 when President Putin abolished the Directorate for Interregional and Cultural Relations and created the Presidential Directorate for Strategic Partnership and Cooperation, headed by Vadim Titov. The new directorate retained much of the old structure, continuing activities such as espionage, asset recruitment, election interference, and collection of compromising material on foreign targets. The directorate expanded its focus on the post-Soviet space, including Moldova, the Baltics, Central Asia, and Africa. It leveraged figures like former Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, under sanctions for election interference, to fund projects such as the Eurasian Center for Russian Language and Culture and media like Nomad TV in Kyrgyzstan, which rebroadcasts pro-Kremlin content. Leadership and personnel include intelligence-affiliated officials like Anton Rybakov, a protégé of FSB Colonel Valery Maksimov, and FSB Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Kleshchev from the classified 16th Center responsible for signals intelligence and cyber intrusions. The directorate also holds internal seminars promoting Russian narratives to counter Western influence and reinforcing Kremlin control over the local economies of client states. These operations demonstrate the ongoing hybrid warfare strategy employing cultural diplomacy as a cover for espionage and influence campaigns.