Russian secret services they are increasingly trying to turn Germans who come to Russia for cooperation as informants, writes the magazine Der Spiegel with reference to the Federal Service for the Protection of the Constitution

Recently, there has been an increase in cases when Russian intelligence agencies are trying to recruit German citizens visiting Russia, writes today the weekly German magazine Der Spiegel, which has a detailed internal report from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV).

The report says that employees of German diplomatic missions can become a target for Russian special services. However, those who travel individually or for business reasons can also be potential targets, according to BfV. BfV predicts that Russian agents will then “recruit” German citizens, possibly using “harder and more cynical methods” to coax them into cooperation. For this reason, they may use elements of blackmail or create situations through which they will be pressured.

The German Foreign Ministry expressly warns those who are going to visit Russia not to use social networks. “Critical views of current political events” could “lead to unforeseen personal risks,” the German foreign ministry said. In Moscow, the police have already carried out checks on the mobile phones of people of interest to the special services, who study what they write in instant messengers and social networks.

In June, German Interior Minister Nancy Fesser, assessing the activities of Russian intelligence services in Germany, drew attention to the fact that “especially in such secret places as the government quarter in Berlin, the risks of eavesdropping, as well as the risks of information leakage, are real and should not be underestimated.” .

Fesser also warned that conversations carried over conventional telecommunications networks are “virtually unprotected from eavesdropping.” It must be assumed that foreign intelligence agencies “make significant efforts to intercept and record telecommunications connections,” the minister said.

Source: APE/MEB