Russian sabotage: “The Kremlin sees the West and therefore Germany as an enemy”

The heads of the federal intelligence services have warned in drastic terms of a growing threat of espionage, sabotage and disinformation from Russian secret services. Moscow’s willingness to undertake further activities in the field of hybrid and covert measures has reached a “previously unknown level”, said the President of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Bruno Kahl, on Monday at the regular public hearing of the heads of the Federal German intelligence services by the members of the Federal Intelligence Service Parliamentary Control Committee of the Bundestag.

“The Kremlin sees the West, and therefore Germany, as an enemy,” said Kahl. Putin will test “red lines” from the West. He is “about creating a new world order.” The Russian secret services acted “without any legal restrictions and, above all, without any scruples.”

A further deterioration of the situation is “anything but unlikely,” said Kahl. In addition, the risk “that at some point the question of a NATO alliance collapse could arise.” In terms of gross domestic product, Russia spends many times what NATO states invest in their defense. The Russian armed forces are “capable of carrying out an attack against NATO at the end of this decade,” Kahl warned. The Kremlin wants to push the USA out of Europe and push NATO back to at least the level it was in the late 1990s.

According to its President Thomas Haldenwang, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is also observing “aggressive actions” by the Russian intelligence services. Russian espionage and sabotage in particular are increasing in Germany “both quantitatively and qualitatively,” said Haldenwang. The threat has reached a level in recent months that should be a “wake-up call”.

Haldenwang pointed out that two years ago he had described the threat posed by Russian activities in Western countries as a “storm” and that posed by Chinese activities as “climate change”. This assessment is still correct. “But the storm has now become a veritable hurricane,” said Haldenwang. “This hurricane is moving with power from east to west.” In Poland and the Baltics, Russian services were already “much more brutal.”

The Russian services are active both in the real world and in cyberspace. “Germany is the focus of this hybrid war by Russia against the Western democracies,” said Haldenwang. The activities included influencing domestic German political discussions, but also cyber attacks against critical infrastructure and sabotage. Russia also accepts “the risk to human life”.

The Bundeswehr’s Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) also warned against attempts to spy on critical infrastructure. “The focus is on the Bundeswehr,” said MAD President Martina Rosenberg. The aim is to clarify German arms deliveries to Ukraine, training projects or armaments projects, or to convey a feeling of insecurity to the population through acts of sabotage.

According to Western security authorities, the Russian secret services are under considerable pressure. According to experts, the reason is, on the one hand, the Putin regime’s increased need to obtain information about military aid from Western-oriented states to Ukraine. On the other hand, as a result of the Russian war of aggression, around 700 agents posing as Russian diplomats were expelled across Europe. The expulsions significantly restricted the ability of the Russian services to carry out espionage and acts of sabotage.

The Putin regime is now apparently relying on a strategy that is considered completely new in the world of secret services: The services use so-called disposable agents, also known in the authorities as low-level or one-use agents are.

Recruitment via Telegram

The Russian services recruit these so-called “proxies” on social media, usually in Russia-related channels of the messenger service Telegram. According to WELT information from the security authorities, these are usually Russian-speaking people between the ages of 20 and 30, often with a criminal history and a high IT affinity. It is said that they usually follow Moscow’s call for monetary or ideological reasons.

According to observations, under the cover of anonymity, the disposable agents are recruited by full-time employees of Russian secret services in order to carry out actions in the interest of the Kremlin. These included actions to exert influence, such as posting pro-Russian graffiti, but also espionage. Suspected low-level agents have already been encountered spying on military properties, for example with the help of professional drones.

BfV President Thomas Haldenwang warned the members of the Parliamentary Control Committee at the public hearing that spying could turn into acts of sabotage. “You can equip a drone with a camera. You can also equip a drone with explosives,” said Haldenwang.

Disposable agents are apparently also used in complex sabotage operations with serious potential consequences. The most prominent example in intelligence circles is the so-called DHL case.

At the end of July, a container in which a package had exploded caught fire at Leipzig Airport. The investigation showed that the package had been prepared with a professional improvised explosive device. Experts assume that it could have been a sabotage operation by Russian secret services, which may have wanted to undermine confidence in the security of the logistics industry.

The flight that was supposed to transport the package was delayed. The container therefore did not catch fire on the plane, but rather while being loaded. “If it had exploded on board, there would have been a crash, and the debris would have also hit people who openly or covertly sympathize with Putin,” said BfV President Haldenwang in the Bundestag.

Most cases of suspected low-level agents acting on behalf of Russia have so far been registered in Eastern European countries. However, security experts fear that the Kremlin could also expand its actions in Germany. The aim of the actions is to hinder military support for Ukraine.

In view of the increased Russian threat, BND President Kahl demanded that the intelligence services need “significantly more operational freedom” to fulfill their legal mandate. In view of the diverse threat situations, the efficiency of the services and their legal restrictions must be “in an appropriate, practical and sensible relationship” to the protection of other legal interests. He is “seriously concerned about the increasing dominance of control” at the expense of “agility and therefore the efficiency of the services”.

MAD President Rosenberg also said that “in addition to sufficient personnel and material resources, the legal basis must also be adjusted”. She hopes that the proposed amendment to the laws for the intelligence services will result in “an adjustment to reality”.

BfV President Haldenwang called for “further powers in telecommunications and in the area of ​​counter-espionage”. Mass data could only sensibly be evaluated with the help of artificial intelligence. Authorities would also have to be adjusted for this. In addition, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution must be given better opportunities to carry out financial investigations to investigate extremist efforts.

The chairman of the parliamentary control committee, Konstantin von Notz (Greens), said that the members of the committee agreed, regardless of the party register, “that the turning point must also find its way into the intelligence services”. CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter said it was important that “horses and riders” were named at the meeting. “And these are Russia and China, but we are particularly faced with the challenge of Russian escalation.”

Sebastian Hartmann, the SPD representative on the committee, said with reference to the threats: “The fair weather phase is definitely over. These are tough times, and it’s not abstract. We are in a preliminary phase of no longer peace.” Konstantin Kuhle, as FDP representative with regard to Russia, said that the heads of the intelligence services had made it clear that “the blatant naivety” must finally be over.