Ukraine espionage: Secret help from the West is probably Putin's biggest problem
Created: 05/19/2022Updated: 05/19/2022 12:29 p.m
By: Franziska Schwarz
The CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia (archive image) © epa Brack/Blackstar/Pool/epa/dpa
Spies play a key role in the Ukraine war.
The West supplies Kyiv with information.
Helpful: Russian generals apparently make fatal mistakes.
Munich - In the debate about help for Ukraine, the terms marten, leopard or cheetah, tank types, are often used.
At least as important are the CIA, GCHQ or BND, western secret services.
Your work in the Ukraine war has so far been considered a success.
They provide the attacked country with satellite images, intercepted radio messages or warnings of impending cyber attacks - even if they don't officially want to become a party to the war.
Such intelligence work is considered "safe" because it is "invisible, or at least can be denied," says the
New York Times
(NYT), which recently explained how strongly the United States, for example, supports the fighters surrounding Ukrainian President Volodymyr help Zelenskyy.
Espionage in the Ukraine-Russia war: "It's dangerous to talk about it too much"
Hardly any of the officials are named in the
New York Times
article.
Secret service activities are kept secret, details are rarely made public.
Pentagon spokesman John said, according to the
NYT
, that Ukraine was being provided "information that they can use to defend themselves."
CIA chief William Burns said at a recent panel discussion, "It's dangerous when people talk too much about intelligence matters, whether it's in private or in public."
Dangerous because, according to a “Tagesschau” report, the Western secret services are concerned about the following:
Informants and sources should not be lost.
The communication technology must not be endangered.
The impression of waging a “proxy war” should be avoided.
Intelligence info for Ukraine: Moskva, Hostomel, start of invasion
The fact that the United States warned Ukraine and NATO before February 24 - the start of the invasion - is now taken for granted.
Apparently, Western intelligence information has given Ukraine further military advantages since then.
Some examples:
Attack on the military airport Hostomel in the first days of the war: The CIA is said to have warned the Ukrainian fighters beforehand.
Kiev reported twelve Russian generals killed: According to
NYT
research, this was only possible with the help of US intelligence information.
The article quotes an NCS spokeswoman as clarifying that the military intelligence was not given to Ukraine "to kill Russian generals."
Interesting aspect: The USA would give itself the condition not to pass on any information about the highest-ranking commanders, the
NYT
claims to have learned, citing officials.
On April 14, the Russian flagship "Moskva" sank: According to the
Washington Post
, US secret services provided Kiev with the coordinates of the cruiser.
Again, according to the report, officials insist they had no "prior knowledge" of a Ukrainian missile attack on the ship.
BND in the Ukraine war: intercepted radio traffic on the atrocities at Bucha
Do the German secret services also play a role in the developments in the Ukraine war?
The federal government is keeping a low profile about BND activities in the conflict.
According to "Tagesschau" information, however, it was heard in "secret rounds" that there was "lively exchange" with the Ukrainians and "other services in the region".
also read
Ukraine airstrike reported in Russia - Putin probably fires senior military
Ukraine rejects ceasefire and demands final negotiations from Russia
After the massacre in Bucha,
Der Spiegel
reported that the BND intercepted radio communications from the Russian military there - and that the intercept findings could refute Moscow's denials of guilt.
Secret services in the Ukraine-Russia war: Fatal mistakes by Putin's generals
Russia under President Vladimir Putin also seems to have problems sensitizing its own generals to secret service activities.
According to the
NYT
, they were apparently quite vulnerable - due to technical errors, above all through unencrypted communication via insecure smartphones, telephones or radios.
It is easy to locate someone who behaves this way.
"It just shows a lack of discipline, lack of experience, arrogance and an inability to properly assess the capabilities of the Ukrainians," the
NYT
quoted former US Lieutenant General Frederick Hodges as saying.
(frs)