A quiet harbor for Putin spies. Germany was struck by a wave of high -profile investigations into a network of Russian agents that entangled the country behind the back of special services

At the end of August, the German Spiegel magazine brought out its large investigation to the cover of the new number called Putin saboteurs: how Moscow's agents operate in Germany. The authors of the expanded publication analyze why Germany was so accessible to the Russian special services, as well as summarize new and previously known facts about the work of Russian spies, saboteurs, hackers and agents in the event, including Germany.

Video of the day one of the main conclusions that German journalists reached - German authorities have ignor similar threats for years. "Germany's reaction to Moscow spies has long been reminiscent of her attitude to importing Russian gas," conducts a direct analogy of Spiegel.

"While the states of Eastern Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom have been warning for the operations of Russian special services for years, governments in Berlin, Paris and Rome preferred to close their eyes on the drilling storm. " The publication reminds that after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the "desire for friendship with Russia" has become a significant factor for Germany.

And after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Federal Intelligence Service of Germany (BND) even stopped its counterintelligence operations - it was believed that Germany should now focus on a new type of enemy. A similar trend was affected by the German Internal Special Service of BFV (the Federal Office for the Protection of the German Constitution, subordinates to the Ministry of Internal Affairs).

If at the end of the Cold War, nearly 400 people worked in the BFV counterintelligence department, then this number began to decline sharply and reached the lowest level (since 1990) in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. "In fact, the department was halved - despite numerous warnings of safety experts," Spiegel writes. Last year alone, BFV was granted to recruit 350 people, including counterintelligence employees.

Up to 100 people are planning to attract MAD, a German military counterintelligence service. Representatives of other Western intelligence in the comments of the publication also spoke about the long -term passivity of German colleagues and their attention to the problem of the Russian Federation, which Germany is now difficult to compensate for.

Former CIA Agency John Sifer made a strict verdict of German counterintelligence: “During my work with a wide spectrum [special] services for tracking and protection against Russian subversive activity, I found that German services are much less useful and effective than most of their European colleagues, - - Says Sifer. "I will not remember any serious cooperation. " Mark Polymeropoulos, who directed CIA operations in Europe and Eurasia in 2017-2019, shared a similar idea.