Jürgen Kaiser, Head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution of North Rhine-Westphalia, in which he warns of a sharp increase in the activity of Russian intelligence services in Germany and compares the current situation with the “peak periods of the Cold War.”
According to Kaiser, Germany has witnessed a clear increase in espionage, sabotage and threats since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow is increasingly relying on so-called “disposable agents” (Wegwerfagenten) — amateurs or petty criminals recruited to carry out relatively simple tasks that were previously performed by professional intelligence operatives.
Russia is deliberately seeking to intimidate executives of German defence companies in order to discourage them from supporting Ukraine with military technologies. Recent threats against Stefan Tuman, head of drone manufacturer Donaustahl, and earlier threats against Armin Papperger, Chief Executive Officer of Rheinmetall, were cited as examples.