BND: Arrest of Russian spies in German intelligence
The Federal Prosecutor's Office has detained another German citizen suspected of spying for Russia. This is already the second case in several months.
Spies detained in German intelligence
Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office has arrested another suspect accused of passing secret information to Russia, dw.com reported on Thursday. The detainee, a German citizen, landed at Munich airport, where he was apprehended upon returning from the USA. He is accused of complicity in an act of treason.
The man does not work for the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), but in the course of his professional activities obtained access to German intelligence information which he allegedly passed on to Russian services. The investigation was conducted jointly by the BND and the American FBI. The suspect is in investigative custody.
The arrest comes just a month after the detention of Carsten L., a BND employee, who in December faced charges of espionage for Russia. L. allegedly passed information considered to be state secrets to Russian services. Both cases reveal the scale of the Russian threat to German security structures.
Last summer, Thomas Haldenwang, head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, warned that the scale of surveillance against Germany is comparable to the time of the Cold War, if not higher. The last previous case of exposing a traitor in the BND occurred nine years earlier, when Markus R. was unmasked as spying for American services.
Source: Onet