this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2024
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The officer, with ties to the far-right AfD party, said he provided information to a Russian intelligence service out of fear of a nuclear escalation in Moscow's war in Ukraine.

A member of Germany's Bundeswehr went on trial in the western city of Düsseldorf on Monday, charged with espionage activities on behalf of Russia and leaking state secrets. 

At the start of the trial, the defendant admitted that he had spied for Russia. He said his actions were driven by a fear of a nuclear escalation amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

The officer was arrested on August 9 last year and the charges against him were made public on March 19.

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[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 105 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Of course they have ties to the AfD.

[–] psvrh@lemmy.ca 71 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Every right wing party, in every western democracy, is either benefitting from Russian agitprop, if not taking Russian money directly.

Every. Single. One.

[–] SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world 38 points 6 months ago

With a side hustle of Chinese spying

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 51 points 6 months ago (2 children)

From what I can tell from the outside, it looks like Russia has thoroughly infiltrated AfD from top to bottom.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 37 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Just like the Republicans here in the states. A curious correlation.

Now if only our domestic counter-intelligence services would actually do something about that

[–] Zacryon@lemmy.wtf 5 points 6 months ago

That would be great. Wouldn't it? It's nice to dream. I also had dreams when I was young.

[–] breadsmasher@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

Turns out entire party are spies, without realising, and spying on each other

[–] ABCDE@lemmy.world 25 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Die Alternative ist Russland.

[–] DaBPunkt@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

AfD=Außer für Deutschland

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

Like French LePen and their facho party.

[–] Jaysyn@kbin.social 62 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Sounds like the AfD is a Ruzzian tool & should be purged from German society.

[–] Zacryon@lemmy.wtf 16 points 6 months ago

Yes. Not just because of that.

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 36 points 6 months ago (1 children)

He said his actions were driven by a fear of a nuclear escalation amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Did he take money for the secrets he was giving? If so, was the money calming his fears about nuclear escalation?

[–] Neato@ttrpg.network 34 points 6 months ago

with ties to the far-right AfD party

Seems more like their ideologies aligned. "Fear of nuclear war" is a handy excuse that no one will fucking believe.

[–] Norgur@fedia.io 15 points 6 months ago (1 children)

They only say that they are the alternative for Germany. Now we know what that alternative is supposed to be.

[–] DaBPunkt@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

They Said that they Love their (Home) country; Just didn't Said which 😉

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 5 points 6 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


A member of Germany's Bundeswehr went on trial in the western city of Düsseldorf on Monday, charged with espionage activities on behalf of Russia and leaking state secrets.

According to prosecutors, he also photographed old training documents related to munitions systems and aircraft technology and dropped the material into the letterbox of the Russian consulate in Bonn.

It prompted probably the most serious attempt in years to boost defense spending and military readiness, after similar plans from previous governments yielded few results.

It's not the only case of alleged espionage on behalf of Russia to come to light since the war broke out, with a former intelligence agency employee facing similar charges in Berlin.

Earlier this year, Russia also released audio excerpts from an online video conference call between senior German military officers discussing the war in Ukraine and what impact new weapons deliveries might have.

*Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and urges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.


The original article contains 543 words, the summary contains 177 words. Saved 67%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] Chee_Koala@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

Holy heckers what a total scumbag.