According to the Security Police, every third employee at the Russian Embassy in Stockholm is an intelligence officer working under diplomatic cover.
This means that Russia has 10-15 intelligence officers accredited as diplomats in Sweden.
According to the Security Police, these officers conduct "security-threatening activities against Sweden in order to influence Swedish defense capabilities and security policy".
Influence operations
An important goal for the Russian activities is that Sweden should continue to be non-aligned and kept out of NATO.
The Russian intelligence officers work, among other things, with what is usually called influence operations, to try to influence decision-makers and voters with misleading information.
This could be a particularly serious election year, not least when the NATO issue could be one of the major issues ahead of the September elections.
A large part of the activities of the Russian intelligence officers is what is sometimes called "war preparation".
They collect information about the Swedish defense and the Swedish defense capability, about exercises, military technology and military installations.
All in order to have better information about Sweden's defense in the event of war.
But Russian intelligence officers are also spying on private companies, industry and the research world.
They also recruit agents who can help them access sensitive information.
Last year, for example, a person was convicted of espionage on behalf of Russia.
Sweden shows fewer
In recent days, a large number of European countries have chosen to deport a large number of Russian intelligence officers.
Neighboring country Denmark expels 15 diplomats, while Sweden is content with three - despite the knowledge that there are significantly more intelligence officers than those working in Sweden under diplomatic cover.
In Denmark, therefore, the activities of the Russian intelligence service are more or less shut down, while in Sweden it can continue, certainly to a somewhat reduced extent.
The Swedish government may be concerned about the expected Russian countermeasures.
By expelling a small number of Russian diplomats, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs expects that Russia will expel fewer Swedish diplomats as a countermeasure.