Consulate in Bonn Consulate ● Roster captured

United 24 Media reported on September 4th that “Russia’s consulate general in Bonn may have served as a major hub for intelligence gathering and supporting Russian hybrid operations in Western Europe , German outlet Bild reported, citing sources in Brussels circles. Following the revelations, Germany decided to close the diplomatic post no later than September 18, forcing about 60 Russian diplomats, including Consul General Oleg Krasnitsky, to leave the country and leaving Moscow with only its embassy in Berlin. According to Bild’s sources, between 15 and 20 diplomats at the post may have been active intelligence operatives who cooperated with Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the FSB, and the GRU. Reports suggest they could have coordinated operations targeting Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and key institutions like the EU and NATO. Land and building rights will remain Russian property, while outgoing staff are expected to clear or transfer classified files to Berlin.”

BBC reported on September 1st that “Germany has said Russia was responsible for last month’s drone attack at Leipzig’s airport. A drone carrying an explosive device was discovered at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany, close to Ukrainian cargo planes, on 4 August. It failed to explode as the detonator was apparently faulty, and investigators suspect a second drone collided with a cargo aircraft nearby. A third drone was reportedly found near the airport 10 days later. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the Leipzig airport attack followed the “well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe” and the assumption was that Germany would be targeted again. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused Germany of planting evidence to blame Moscow for the attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport. Putin did not provide evidence for the accusation. Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in Berlin said the allegation that Russia was responsible was “absurd”. Dobrindt said examination of the equipment used along with intelligence findings proved Russian involvement in the attack. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who was standing beside Dobrindt at a press conference in Berlin, said he would order the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn, and the contract for the Russian House in Berlin will also be terminated — which many observers have said has been used for espionage and to spread Russian propaganda. He also announced tighter entry controls for Russian nationals and vowed to increase pressure on Moscow’s shadow fleet — old tankers used by Russia to circumvent Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Wadephul said he had summoned Russia’s ambassador to Germany, Sergei Nechayev. He was seen arriving at the foreign ministry shortly after the announcement. Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, said Moscow would respond in a “mirror-image” fashion to Germany’s measures while the Russian embassy described the measures as an “unprecedented escalation in Russian-German relations”. “Berlin is sponsoring terrorism”, Zakharova told the German Press Agency in reference to its military and economic support provided to Ukraine. There have been previous suggestions that the Goethe-Institut in Moscow would have to cease operations if the Germans went through with closing Russian House.”

BBC reported on May 27th that “a German military officer has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for spying for Russia. The man, identified only as Thomas H, had been a captain in the army’s procurement office when he contacted Russian embassy in Berlin and passed on secret military information. German police arrested him in the city of Koblenz in August and accused him of sharing photographs of munitions training systems and aircraft technology. The 54-year-old admitted to a Düsseldorf court on Monday to passing information to Russia, saying it was a “stupid idea” and that he regretted his actions. “It is the biggest mess I have ever made in my life,” he told the court. Prosecutors said the man approached the Russian embassy in Berlin and the consulate in Bonn unprompted and “almost persistently offered himself to Russia”. They said he photographed sensitive military files and dropped information through a letterbox at the consulate building in Bonn. In a closing statement, the man said he had contacted the embassy after becoming concerned about the risk of nuclear war driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He added that he was especially concerned that Germany’s supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine could draw it into the conflict. According to government figures, Berlin supplied about €6.6bn (£5.62bn) worth of military hardware to Ukraine in 2022 and 2023. This included 40 Leopard 1 tanks and 100 infantry fighting vehicles. The man claimed that chronic overwork had impaired his ability to think critically about his actions. His lawyer said he had been influenced by a stream of pro-Russian propaganda and disinformation that he had been consuming on TikTok and Telegram at the time. He noted that his client had also joined the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. He added that the decision came during a four-day period “in which [his client] crossed red lines”. While prosecutors said the leaks had revealed sensitive military information, they noted that he had not disclosed state secrets, an act which would have attracted a much heavier lifetime sentence. The trial comes as a slew of Russian spy affairs have hit headlines in Germany.”

Firstpost reported on April 29th that “as Berlin deals with an increase in Moscow-related espionage cases amid the conflict in Ukraine, a former soldier from Germany will go on trial on Monday on charges of spying for Russia. According to German privacy rules, the suspect — who was only given the name Thomas H. — was taken into custody in August of last year in the western city of Koblenz. He is charged with providing Russian intelligence agencies with information he learned while serving in the Bundeswehr, the German military’s procurement branch. Germany is Kyiv’s second-largest military aid provider, and since Russia invaded the country in early 2022, there has been a spike in reported espionage cases connected to Moscow. Thomas H. had been a career soldier, working at the army’s Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support Department. The department, which has about 12,000 employees, has seen its work increase substantially since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, as Berlin pumps more funds into a wide-ranging overhaul of the Bundeswehr after years of neglect. In May 2023, the suspect “approached the Russian general consulate in Bonn and the Russian embassy in Berlin and offered his cooperation”, prosecutors said in a statement when he was arrested.”

SwissInfo reported on March 19th that “German prosecutors have charged an officer in the military procurement agency with attempting to pass secret information to Russian intelligence, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Tuesday. The German national, whom the prosecutor’s office identified only as Thomas H., has been in custody since August. He is accused of repeatedly approaching Russia’s consulate in Bonn and embassy in Berlin from May last year on his own initiative to offer his cooperation. Germany, one of the largest providers of military hardware to Ukraine, is a major target of Russian spying operations, which have grown in scale since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, authorities have warned. On one occasion, Thomas H. handed over information obtained during the course of his work with the intention that it be passed to a Russian intelligence service, the federal prosecutor’s office said. He was arrested in Koblenz, the procurement agency’s seat in western Germany, and his home and workplace were searched. The nature of the information he attempted to pass to Moscow was not specified.”

El País reported on August 21st that “when Berlin was divided by its infamous wall, the city was reputed to be the spy capital of the Eastern communist bloc and also of the democratic and capitalist West. This appeared to be condemned to history when the Iron Curtain came down, marking the end of the Cold War. However, the city, which later became the capital of reunified Germany, did not lose its appeal to the secret services. Indeed, eight years ago, the then head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s counterintelligence services, Hans-Georg Maassen, referred to the city as a modern, active and thriving “espionage capital of Europe.” The city continues to draw agents, most of whom come from Russia. President Vladimir Putin — who in his youth served as a KGB officer in the now defunct German Democratic Republic (GDR) — and his government are keen to understand everything about the assistance Germany has been providing to Ukraine since the Kremlin-ordered invasion on February 24, 2022. Last Wednesday, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Koblenz announced the arrest of Thomas H., a captain who worked for the German Army’s Office of Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support, the agency in charge of the procurement of armaments and equipment for the Armed Forces. Thomas H., a supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and a sworn friend of Russia, was spotted several times in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin and in the vicinity. “He seemed insecure, like a shy deer,” said a state security official from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which is investigating the case in conjunction with the BfV and the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD). According to the German Prosecutor’s Office, last May Thomas H. supplied information to the Russian Consulate in Bonn and the Moscow Embassy in Berlin. “On one occasion, he transmitted information obtained in the course of his professional activity, with the purpose of having it transferred to a Russian secret service,” the institution reported. The arrest of the German captain triggered a wave of reactions among politicians and intelligence services in Germany, where it is believed that Russian espionage has infiltrated many places. These concerns are not misplaced. A few weeks after the attack on Ukraine began, the Berlin city-state government announced that spies from at least three Russian secret services were operating out of the Russian embassy on the city’s Unter den Linden avenue. These were the successor to the KGB, the Federal Security Service (FSB); the Foreign Intelligence Service (SWR), whose agents passed themselves off as diplomats or journalists; and the Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU). “There must be over 100 spies with diplomatic cover, and a year ago there were almost 150,″ said a Foreign Ministry official, pointing out that his department expelled 40 foreign agents in April 2022. “The entrances to the Russian Embassy in Berlin and the Russian Consulates General in Bonn, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich are filmed and monitored 24 hours a day by cameras of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution [German counterintelligence].”.”

DW reported on August 9th that “a German man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of spying for Moscow, federal prosecutors said. He was arrested in the city of Koblenz in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Prosecutors said that the suspect approached the Russian consulate in the city of Bonn in the neighboring state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and also the Russian embassy in Berlin. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann praised prosecutors for their work on the social media platform X, and said the suspect was an officer in the German military “strongly suspected” of working for a foreign secret service. The man, who was identified as Thomas H, had visited the embassy and consulate “on his own initiative” multiple times since May and offered his cooperation, prosecutors said in a statement. He is suspected of providing information on his work for a division of the German military, the Bundeswehr, to the diplomatic missions with the intention of having it be passed on to a Russian secret service. The man worked for the Bundeswehr’s procurement agency, the Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support department. The agency is based in Koblenz, where the man was arrested. The man’s apartment and workplace have been searched by investigators. Investigations were conducted in close coordination with military intelligence and Germany’s domestic security agency, the BfV.”