Many secret services are said to have been better informed about the Wagner uprising than the BND. Now there are reports that the secret service might have known more.
Berlin – After various events in recent years, the uprising of the Wagner group ensured that the work of the German foreign secret service BND (Federal Intelligence Service) was increasingly discussed in public. It was initially reported that, in contrast to the secret services, the authority had USA and Great Britain only learned late about the Wagner uprising from Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenary troupe.
Research by the ARD news portal is now drawing Tagesschau.de Another picture: According to the information from the research team, BND employees even tapped into a particularly explosive telephone conversation during the Wagner uprising on June 24. In the conversation, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko and Wagner boss Prigozhin are said to have exchanged views on the conditions for a withdrawal of the mercenary force. Several thousand Wagner mercenaries had previously taken the city of Rostov-on-Don and then moved on Moscow pulled.
Secret service findings about the Wagner uprising: Kahl appears before the committee
The information about the Wagner uprising, which the research team obtained from unknown sources, was not confirmed by the BND. If they are correct, however, it would be another point that could possibly raise questions about the work of the secret service, after an appearance by BND boss Bruno Kahl before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag last week should only dispel any doubts.
After the conversation with the committee, the German Press Agency reported that Kahl received a lot of cross-party backing and gave the committee members “knowledgeable assessments and information from the BND”. So quoted the German press agency SPD– Chairman Nils Schmid. Whether the findings about the Wagner uprising from the conversation between Lukashenko and Prigozhin were also discussed in the secret committee meeting, left daily News-Report open.
The many problems of the BND: Espionage case, right-wing extremism and many questions
Negative headlines about the BND had recently produced, for example, the affair surrounding the suspected spy Carsten L., who, as an employee of the authority, is said to have forwarded explosive information to Russia. Investigations and research into Carsten L., who had worked as a department head at the BND, revealed that L. was said to have attracted attention with right-wing extremist positions even before his arrest.
The BND is also accused of playing a role in the much-criticized withdrawal of the German armed forces from Afghanistan and the subsequent takeover of power by the Taliban, which is currently being dealt with in a specially set up investigative committee. Here, too, some committee members are now understanding and attest to the authority that many of the “reproaches towards the BND” turn out to be “unfounded” on closer inspection. So quoted the dpa greens-Politician Robin Wagener.
Wagner uprising: tapped Prigozhin phone call raises more questions about BND work
The information about the tapped Prigozhin phone call on the subject of exile and impunity now raises further questions. It remains to be seen whether they have the potential to intensify criticism of the BND again. In the reporting about the Ukraine war is the whereabouts of the Wagner boss currently one of the main topics: Because according to initial reports that the Wagner boss Russia left, it was said recently that he was back in Saint Petersburg. (saka with dpa)
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