Russia uses diplomats from African countries for espionage, relies on friendly countries such as Serbia and Hungary

Russia is changing its espionage activities in Europe following its war against Ukraine. As the German radio and television station “Ard” reports, the restructuring of espionage became necessary after around 500 Moscow spies were expelled from various European countries in which they were accredited as diplomats from 2022.

In order to obtain information, the Russian secret services are now relying on “state-of-the-art technologies” and “travel agents”.

According to “Ard” and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, there are around 20 Russian spies accredited as diplomats in Germany who are monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (bfv).

Limited personnel and supervisory resources for counterintelligence would make it more difficult for Moscow to carry out complex operations.

Between April 2022 and 2023, Germany expelled 70 Russian diplomats suspected of espionage. To replace the agents expelled from Europe, Russia would now deploy spies already working in its embassies in Africa. In addition, according to the Dutch secret service, Moscow is making inroads into the European continent with agents with fake biographies posing as entrepreneurs. At the same time, Russia is targeting “countries with friendly governments such as Hungary and Serbia”.

Suspected of cooperating with organized crime, the Russian secret services are also active in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and North Africa. For BFV, Russia has deployed its spies at a “faster pace” since the invasion of Ukraine. This means that operations have become “less scrupulous” and at the same time the likelihood of agents being discovered has increased.

The Russian Consulate General in Bonn is important in this context. Together with the Russian embassy in Berlin, these are the only Moscow representations on German soil following the closure of the consulates general in Munich, Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig and Hamburg.

In fact, the former capital of West Germany is of particular interest to Russia, as the offices of the German Ministry of Defence as well as several international organizations are located there.

In addition, Russian “travel agencies” can “quickly” travel from Bonn to France, Belgium, where NATO and the EU are based, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

At the same time, Russia in Austria can benefit from the relatively lenient treatment that the Viennese government has reserved for its agents. So far, only eight Russian spies have been expelled from Austria, while a total of 100 were accredited as diplomatic personnel./The Geopost/