Russia is spying on the German brigade stationed in Lithuania - Spiegel
Kyiv • UNN
A Russian reconnaissance aircraft monitored German troops during the Iron Wolf exercises in Lithuania. This confirms the threat from Moscow and the need to strengthen counterintelligence.
Russia tried to monitor the communications of one of the combat brigades of the German army during NATO exercises in Lithuania. Inspector General Carsten Breuer considers this incident as proof of how real the threat from Moscow is, UNN writes with reference to Spiegel.
Details
Shortly before the roll call at the location of the German combat brigade in Lithuania, Russia, obviously, closely monitored the activities of the Bundeswehr fighters. In the middle of last week, a Russian reconnaissance aircraft was detected in the airspace of neighboring Belarus during the "Iron Wolf" exercises.
Since the aircraft obviously directed its sensors to the NATO exercises, in which the Bundeswehr participated together with other Alliance countries, the units immediately switched to encrypted communication.
Inspector General Breuer, who visited the Iron Wolf exercises that day, called the incident proof of how real the threat is in Lithuania.
A few days ago, with the help of a commercially available drone, another training exercise was apparently recorded during another training exercise in Lithuania involving German helicopters.
Current observations correspond to the situation assessment conducted by the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD), the Bundeswehr's intelligence agency.
The agency has long warned that the German brigade in Lithuania is the focus of Russian intelligence. To improve counterintelligence, MAD plans to expand its presence there.
The new German government also plans to introduce a law this year that will simplify cooperation and information exchange between MAD and the German foreign intelligence service BND in Lithuania.
The German brigade in Lithuania is expected to be fully operational by 2027. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) are expected to be present at the roll call next Thursday.
Supplement
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised to continue military support for Ukraine. He said this while speaking before the German parliament.
