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Is it worthwhile for the Soviets to work on this at all?
Thanks for any opinions.

depends on what the others do...

afaik spy/int works in a more complex way. It works best if all nations (GB, US, USSR) spend chits. Especially for the USSR that might be a problem in the beginning.

My conclusion is that there is currently very little value to the Soviet Union investing in Intelligence. I have attached the following from comments that I have read online.

In the current patch (War in Europe version 1.26), is it ever worth the USSR investing in Intelligence (either pre-or post-Barbarossa), assuming Britain doesn't sell its Intelligence chit and the USA invests heavily in Intelligence?

You are correct. In nearly all cases the UK and US will always be ahead of Russia for the defensive effect, and GE will always be ahead so Russia will not gain an offensive bonus.

The only benefit would be additional unit spotting. A small benefit when money is badly needed for other Tech and units. Late game (if it matters) maybe. Taxman66 3/31/2023

USSR should never tech that. Versus a good Axis player you are either with your back against the wall and can not afford it or you already won.
With the Western Allies it is a different picture.
Since Germany has to and always will research it Britain should counter that, so that Germany won't run away.
Every level of S&I the US has will not be countered by Germany while at peace. So US will realisticaly benefit quite a while from lvl1 and some time from lvl2.
This can lead to very early very high level Stratbombers for example.
Also increased research speed will to some extent make up for later start of industry research because of prioritizing S&I.

I never calculated this through tho.
But from a balancing perspective I do not like lvl5 Stratbombers in 1943 anyway, so I just don't do it.