The annual report of the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) shows that Russian espionage has increased. Intelligence is shifting “to the tactical level”.
Cologne/Berlin – The latest annual report of the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) reveals alarming observations and figures: According to the experts, Russian secret services have increased their espionage against German aid to Ukraine and the German Armed Forces reinforced.
As a result, the primarily strategic interest of the Russian services in military policy and strategy has “increasingly shifted to the tactical level,” writes the MAD in its new annual report, which is German Press Agency in Berlin on Thursday (12 September).
According to MAD, it is now of vital interest to the Russians what military aid Germany provides to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022. It concerns information on routes of weapons and ammunition transports, operational procedures and tactics of Western weapons systems in Ukraine itself. “It is crucial for the Russian side to obtain information that gives its own armed forces an advantage on the battlefield,” said MAD.
Moscow’s focus: the Bundeswehr’s capabilities for national and alliance defence
The Bundeswehr’s own capabilities for national and alliance defense have also become the focus of Russian intelligence services again. It continues: “In addition, reconnaissance and possible sabotage of critical infrastructure and defense-critical facilities in Germany remain a serious threat.”
MAD President Martina Rosenberg wrote in the report: “Together we are faced with the great task of strengthening the capabilities to defend against existing threats.” And: “The central goal is to make the Bundeswehr war-ready.”
Extremism in the Bundeswehr has increased: More suspected cases since the outbreak of the Ukraine war
Another observation recorded by the MAD is the increasing number of new cases in which suspicions of extremism are being clarified. For 2023, there will be an increase in new case processing to 483 – compared to 390 in the previous year, according to the new annual report of the military intelligence service.
In the area of right-wing extremism, 308 new cases were processed last year. In 2022, 278 new suspected cases were brought to the table.
With the Ukraine War In addition, a new field of topics opened up in the phenomenon of foreign-related extremism, where there was a significant increase to a total of 65 new suspected cases (2022: 18). “A large proportion of the new admissions result from the advocacy and/or support of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which violates international law,” the report states. This represents an actual indication of an extremist endeavor, as it violates the idea of international understanding and the peaceful coexistence of peoples.
In 2023, according to the report, 14 people were classified as recognized extremists, including 6 so-called Reich citizens, 5 right-wing extremists and 3 people for delegitimizing the state in a way that is relevant to the protection of the constitution. In 2022, a total of twelve recognized extremists were identified: seven right-wing extremists, three “Reich citizens”, one left-wing extremist and one case of foreign extremism.
Additional task: Protection of the German brigade in Lithuania
The need to “refocus” the capabilities of the Bundeswehr – including the MAD – on national and alliance defense is growing, the report says. Conceptual and planning bases are also being created for alliance situations and are being discussed with the partners’ intelligence services. In addition, it has been decided to continue with the planned stationing of a combat-ready brigade in the NATO-Country Lithuania to set up a MAD office there.
“Espionage and its defense are fundamentally a ‘quiet’ business,” writes the MAD, which tends to avoid the public. Foreign intelligence services (“AND”) work in secret and try to obtain information that is politically, economically or militarily relevant as inconspicuously as possible.
The military intelligence service states: “Even though espionage is romanticized in many films and series and described as an adventure, foreign states pursue hard goals with their activities in order to gain decisive advantages over the Federal Republic of Germany and its allies.”
“Lack of budgetary resources”: MAD positions vacant
The MAD has been given additional positions for its staff to carry out its tasks, but positions are not filled due to a lack of funds. Since January 1, 2024, the MAD has had 2,131 posts (2023: 1,917 posts). The report continues: “However, a lack of budgetary resources prevents a low three-digit number of posts from being filled.” (bg/dpa)
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