For the most part, the “target” of Russian special services are Germans living in Russia or regularly visiting there, including German diplomats, said the head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the German Constitution.
After EU countries expelled more than 600 Russian diplomats, Moscow is trying to recruit spies in Germany through blackmail and bribery. This was said by the head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) of Germany, Thomas Haldenwang, writes Reuters.
According to him, the Russian intelligence services are ready to pay large sums to attract new agents.
“Russia is making every effort to compensate for the German government’s reduction in the number of Russian agents in Germany,” Haldenwang added.
He added that last year Moscow paid around 400,000 euros to two German citizens jailed for spying for Russia.
“The size of the fees received by the agents indicates that the Russian services still have enormous financial resources at their disposal to achieve their intelligence goals,” Haldenwang said.
The official added that for the most part, the “targets” of the Russian special services are Germans who live in Russia or regularly visit there, including German diplomats, and as soon as the special services receive with some compromising information about the people they need, they immediately resort to aggressive recruitment methods.
It was previously reported that the Russian Federation could send spies to Slovenia under the guise of students.
Source: korrespondent
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