Russian spies in the Upper Palatinate?
Focus on Ukrainian soldiers in Grafenwoehr
Created: 09/02/2022, 12:35 p.m
By: Thomas Eldersch
Spy thriller in Bavarian.
According to the military counter-intelligence service, Russian spies are said to have observed the military base in Grafenwoehr in Upper Palatinate.
Grafenwoehr – Russian spies in Germany?
And then also in the Upper Palatinate province.
Sounds absurd at first, but the idea is not that far-fetched.
There is a large military base not far from the town in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab.
US Army forces are also stationed there.
And they are the ones who teach Ukrainian soldiers how to use Western military technology.
A thorn in Putin's side.
Military intelligence detects Russian spies in Granfenwoehr
Just recently, the President of the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD), Martina Rosenberg, warned of an increasing danger of espionage from Russia.
"Particularly due to the training of Ukrainian armed forces here in Germany, but also due to the arms deliveries to Ukraine, interest in Germany as a hub and as a logistical hub has of course increased again." When a drone flies over an ammunition depot or over a training facility, in which Ukrainian forces would be trained, possibilities of espionage and sabotage would have to be examined carefully, she said in the context of the Bundeswehr format "Demand".
At the air force base in Grafenwöhr, Ukrainian soldiers are also being trained in the use of Western technology.
© Daniel Löb/dpa
In fact, MAD has already spotted suspicious vehicles near the bases in Idar-Oberstein (Rhineland-Palatinate) and Grafenwoehr (Bavaria).
The access roads to the base are said to have been spied out of them.
Training sites were repeatedly flown over with small drones.
In security circles it is also suspected that the Russian services could have tried to spy on the mobile phone data of the Ukrainian soldiers with radio scanners.
(By the way: Our brand new Regensburg newsletter will keep you regularly informed about all the important stories from the World Heritage city and the Upper Palatinate. Register here.)
German politicians warn of the danger of Russian espionage
The Greens politician and secret service expert Konstantin von Notz identified deficits in German counterintelligence.
“We were inattentive and didn't pay attention to the details.
And now we have a tremendous security problem," he told
Der Spiegel
.
Germany largely stopped its counter-espionage activities after reunification, "while other countries simply carried on as they did during the Cold War," said the chairman of the parliamentary oversight body that oversees the work of the federal secret services.
The case in Grafenwöhr is also not an isolated case, says the Upper Palatinate SPD security expert and member of the Bundestag Uli Grötsch the BR.
He warns of further espionage attacks - also at the municipal level.
Counterintelligence against Russia was actually no longer of such crucial importance after the end of the Cold War, as the country had become an important trading partner.
But things changed with the war against Ukraine.
Suddenly, Russian secret agents are looking for information in the middle of the Upper Palatinate.
For Grötsch, it is therefore important to sensitize the population and above all the authorities at the municipal level (municipalities, cities, district offices) to the issue of counter-espionage without stirring up a culture of distrust, the expert told BR.
(phone with dpa)
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