Russia is recruiting new spies in Germany to compensate for expelled diplomats

Russia is prepared to blackmail and pay hundreds of thousands of euros to recruit Germans as spies after nearly 600 Russian diplomats were expelled from Europe.

This was reported by the German Internal Security Service at a press conference, Reuters reports.

Russian special services spend significant sums on recruiting agents in Germany, despite the Westʼs attempts to limit such activities of the Russian Federation.

"Russia is working hard to compensate for the German governmentʼs reduction in the number of Russian agents in Germany," added the head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

For example, two German citizens who were charged with treason last August for spying on Russia received approximately €400,000 for their "work". This shows that the Russian special services have sufficient budgets to achieve their intelligence goals.

Now the biggest target of the special services are Germans who lived in Russia or regularly visited it. In particular, we are talking about German diplomats who can be made vulnerable to blackmail.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution believes that Russia has adapted to find ways to influence events in Germany even after its media was banned and spying diplomats were expelled.

Influence groups moved to the Telegram messenger, and spies were attached to international organizations. Meanwhile, Russian officers working with informants now travel to do so, rather than being based in Germany.

• In May, a former Bundeswehr officer was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in Germany for espionage in favor of the Russian Federation.