When Berlin was divided by the famous Wall, it was considered the spy capital of the communist bloc in the east and also of the democratic and capitalist west. This reality seemed doomed to become legend when the Iron Curtain fell and the Cold War ended. But the city, which had become the capital of reunified Germany, did not lose its attraction for the secret services. So much so that eight years ago the then head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Hans-Georg Maassen, described the city as the modern, active and thriving “spy capital” of Europe.
The city continues to attract agents, most of whom are from Russia. President Vladimir Putin, who was a KGB officer in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) in his youth, and his government want to know all about the aid Germany has given Ukraine since the Kremlin-ordered invasion on February 24, 2022 .
The general public prosecutor’s office in Koblenz announced last Wednesday the arrest of Thomas H., a captain who worked at the Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Bundeswehr, the agency responsible for the procurement of weapons and material for the Bundeswehr. Thomas H., a supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and a self-confessed friend of Russia, was spotted several times in front of and near the Russian embassy in Berlin. “He seemed insecure, like a shy deer,” said a state security officer from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which is investigating the case together with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the military intelligence service. CRAZY.
According to the German public prosecutor, Thomas H. sent information to the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Moscow embassy in Berlin last May. “On one occasion he transmitted information obtained in the course of his professional activities with the aim of forwarding it to a Russian intelligence service,” the institution reported.
The arrest of the German captain sparked a backlash from politicians and German intelligence agencies, who are certain Russian espionage has infiltrated many places.
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The concern is not unfounded. Only a few weeks after the start of the attack on Ukraine, the Berlin city government announced that spies from at least three Russian secret services were working in the Russian embassy on Unter den Linden avenue. The KGB’s successor, the FSB; the foreign secret service SWR, whose agents disguised themselves as diplomats or journalists; and the GRU military intelligence service.
“There must be more than 100 spies wearing diplomatic camouflage and a year ago there were almost 150,” said a State Department official, recalling that his department had expelled 40 foreign agents in April 2022. “The entrances to the Russian embassy in Berlin and the Russian consulates general in Bonn, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich are filmed and monitored 24 hours a day by cameras from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution [la contrainteligencia alemana]“.
Disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks
“This case [la detención de Thomas H.] shows that our security forces are closely monitoring Russian espionage in Germany and taking consistent action against it,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. “After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the threat of espionage, disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks has reached a new dimension,” he warned.
The threat had already been announced by the Military Protection Service (MAD) in early July, which warned of increased attention by Russian and Chinese espionage services for the Bundeswehr. “The intelligence services of both countries have been identified as the most active espionage actors,” MAD said in its annual report, recalling that the war in Ukraine played a central role in intelligence intensity. Germany has supplied Kiev with weapons, ammunition and equipment and is training members of the Ukrainian armed forces.
“The supply of materials and weapons to Ukraine, the training of Ukrainian soldiers in Germany and the increase in the military presence on the eastern flank of NATO have increased the interest of foreign intelligence services, especially Russia, in the activities, intentions and actions decided on by the army.” ‘ stressed the President of the MAD, Martina Rosenberg, in a report from her agency. “The large number of employees of the Russian secret service deployed here confirms the outstanding value of Germany,” warns the MAD, which now states that in view of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine “the strengthening of counterintelligence and combating espionage and possible sabotage are important more urgent than ever.”
Growing Hybrid Threat
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius described the arrest of Thomas H. as “a success”. “We are fast and vigilant. “We have to continuously develop the personnel of the military counterintelligence service,” said the minister. “In times of the Ukraine war, we have to adapt to the growing hybrid threat. One thing is clear: we are wide awake and will do our best to pursue each case with all vigor.”
The chairman of the control committee of the secret services of the Bundestag [Cámara baja alemana]Konstantin von Notz (Die Grünen) also described the arrest as a “success in counterintelligence”, but said the arrest showed in a dramatic way how Germany had become the focus of the secret services of autocracies such as Russia and China. “We are not in a James Bond movie or in the Cold War, but these agencies are more relevant than ever,” the MP said.
Captain Thomas H.’s arrest wasn’t the first to touch the country, and it might not be the last. In December last year, an agent of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) was arrested for allegedly passing information to a Russian secret service. Unlike in the current case, he and an alleged accomplice arrested in January are also being investigated for high treason for revealing state secrets. In November 2022, a Bundeswehr reserve officer was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison for spying for Russia. Between 2014 and 2020, he had documents and information passed on to Russian secret services through contacts at the Russian Embassy in Berlin.
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