"Russia’s FSB spy service asked Carsten Linke last autumn via a courier to pass on precise information on the positioning of the Himars and Iris-T rocket systems that had been supplied to Ukraine by the US and Germany, Der Spiegel reported on Friday. German prosecutors are said to believe that it is unlikely that Mr Linke was able to pass on the information.
In return, the FSB likely paid the suspected German spy in cash. Investigators have found an envelope with a six figure sum in euros in a locker that belonged to him, the magazine reports."
Here's an intriguing story that broke about a week ago - February 17th - that echoes the Cold-War era. Of course the swapping of spies (and use of double-agents) are a day-to-day reality in the global intelligence services, and you aren't supposed to remember that :)
The original source was maybe the New York Times so some parsing, and deconstruction, of the information would be compulsory - usually. On further examining the article Der Spiegel may have run with it beforehand. Most of the links redirect to our enemies (WaPo, NYT).
Still, if it's genuine, which it may well be this time, then it's well worth adding to the library of events here. I was alerted to this story via Alex Thomson's Telegram channel @EastApp
------
Head of German intelligence unit was a Russian double agent
JOHN SEXTON 8:40 PM on February 17, 2023
His name is Carsten Linke and he was recently promoted to a top post in Germany’s intelligence service, the B.N.D. The NY Times reports he was the “director of technical reconnaissance — the unit responsible for cybersecurity and surveilling electronic communications.” He was also a double-agent being paid cash to pass information to Russia. He was apparently asked for specific information on the location of US HIMARS launchers in Ukraine:
Russia’s FSB spy service asked Carsten Linke last autumn via a courier to pass on precise information on the positioning of the Himars and Iris-T rocket systems that had been supplied to Ukraine by the US and Germany, Der Spiegel reported on Friday.
German prosecutors are said to believe that it is unlikely that Mr Linke was able to pass on the information.
In return, the FSB likely paid the suspected German spy in cash. Investigators have found an envelope with a six figure sum in euros in a locker that belonged to him, the magazine reports.
As a Russian mole, he would have had access to critical information gathered since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year. He may have obtained high-level surveillance, not only from German spies, but also from Western partners, like the C.I.A…
Privately, three officials familiar with the investigation — who requested anonymity in order to share details because discussing the inquiry publicly is illegal — worry the case could be the tip of an ominous iceberg.
“Recruiting other spies is the top tier of espionage,” one of the officials said. “And our technical reconnaissance unit is one of the most important departments of the B.N.D. To find someone relatively high up there? That makes this case explosive.”
The case has already led to a second arrest — that of a Russia-born accomplice, who acted as a courier, and, according to one official, brought some 400,000 euros in cash to Mr. Linke from Moscow for his information.
That’s a lot of money, but early indications don’t show Linke living beyond his means or having any debt. He didn’t need the money in other words. Instead, Der Spiegel and the NY Times are suggesting his motive may have been political.
At work, Mr. Linke had openly told colleagues he felt the country was deteriorating, and he was particularly disdainful of its new center-left government, one of those following the inquiry said…
One German politician following the investigation worries that some military and intelligence officials still admire Russia and aspire to closer relations, even after the invasion of Ukraine.
“It’s a kind of conviction, wanting to cooperate with Russia — it’s a romantic belief,” the official said. “I worry there are many others who hold that conviction in our security services.”
Apparently this isn’t a new problem. Russian infiltration of German intelligence has been going on since the Cold War. The Washington Post has a story today about some of the behind the scenes efforts to root out Russian spies that have been taking place around the world.
Over the past year, as Western governments have ramped up weapons deliveries to Ukraine and economic sanctions against Moscow, U.S. and European security services have been waging a parallel if less visible campaign to cripple Russian spy networks. The German case…followed roll-ups of suspected Russian operatives in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Poland and Slovenia…
While the German case centers on a European accused of betraying his country for the Kremlin, others have involved Russian nationals seeking to infiltrate the West.
Among them are so-called “illegals” sent abroad not as diplomats — with accompanying legal protections — but under more elaborate cover arrangements designed to conceal any connection to Russia.
Authorities in the Netherlands last year confronted a passenger who presented a Brazilian passport when he arrived at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, having accepted a position as an intern at the International Criminal Court. In reality, he was a Russian military officer named Sergey Cherkasov who had been sent overseas more than a decade earlier by Russia’s GRU spy agency, its main military intelligence service, according to officials and court records…
In October, authorities in Norway arrested an accused Russian spy under similar circumstances. The suspect had posed as a Brazilian researcher focused on Arctic security issues at a university in northern Norway, credentials that enabled him to gain access to European experts and officials. Like Cherkasov, Mikhail Mikushin was a Russian “illegal” who had spent years abroad developing an elaborate cover for his GRU assignment, according to Norwegian authorities.
And of course we’ve had our own problems with federal agents selling out to Russia. There are probably quite a few more of these guys out there. Here’s a photo of Carsten Linke.
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HotAir is a conservative US site.
25th February 2023 12:45
Tintin
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Extracts from a recent Economist piece: The stark reality of which many if not all of us on the forum are already aware, of the neglect and desperation in Ukraine's Armed Forces, or what remains of them :flower:
"Death and drones on the eastern front" - the grim diaries of a Ukrainian fighter
The Economist publishes the notes of an AFU fighter who fought in Artemivsk and other parts of the front. Below are the most interesting quotes from it describing the situation in the AFU:
▪️"We are going to Bakhmut. The town is being shelled by Russian artillery. Among the enemy forces is a bloodthirsty private army - mercenaries from the Wagner Group;
▪️"The battalion commander asks me how many men have not agreed to volunteer for the attack. Thirteen, I say. You can assess their reluctance. The guys do not understand where they are going and are not ready to attack when the plan is constantly changing;
▪️"Word is spreading fast in the army that the headquarters has been destroyed/that the Russians have already entered Bakhmut/that Russia is going to use tactical nuclear weapons;
▪️"This war is a complete mess";
▪️"The helmet was given to me by a policeman I know, the bulletproof vest was given to me by my friends;
▪️"You need to go through the rest of the stuff stacked haphazardly in the back of the truck. What we have left behind once belonged to the wounded or the dead";
▪️"I know there won't be anything in stock in my size. Buy the rest myself."
▪️"One soldier notes that the locals who are left behind are clearly not rooting for Ukraine."
▪️"We are tuning in to the LNR as it is the only station we can catch here.
As Biden tells Zelensky the US with stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes”, Putin announces that Moscow is suspending its participation in the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between the US and Russia. This as the US now supports the Ukraine retaking Crimea – Putin’s “red line” – and yet more military aid for Zelensky. It’s all shaping up nicely.
From Bill:
John, what did he say?
This is clickbait. You MUST include some kind of video description.
:focus:
25th February 2023 14:17
Tintin
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Photograph/camera still shot showing the current situation at the Pervomaisk-Kuchurgan checkpoint in Transnistria on the border with the Odessa region.
An update from the recent attempted bombing of Mariupol which was liberated by Russian and Allied forces last Spring/Summer via Donbass Devushka:
Text:
From our contributor Alcibiades,
Combat Debut
On February 21st, probably hoping to piss in Vladimir Putin's proverbial Cheerios as he was making his annual State of the Federation speech, the Ukrainians launched a massive salvo of ground-launched Small Diameter Bombs at Mariupol, which has been out of range of their weapons since they ran out of Tochkas over the summer. This incident was significant for a couple of reasons. First, it showed that Ukraine has gotten access to GLSDBs well ahead of schedule, although these are probably hand-built prototype rounds rather than mass-production models. Second, it showed that GLSDB is a terrible weapon, because every single one out of more than fifteen launched was shot down by Russian air defenses.
It turns out, unsurprisingly, that air defense systems that can handily see off near-hypersonic GMLRS projectiles have little trouble defeating subsonic glide bombs. I expect that further orders and a wider deployment of the system will be quietly cancelled after this fiasco.
This has wider implications, however. SDBs incorporate stealth shaping and apparently have a similar radar cross-section to the F-35 - a target that is immensely larger and hotter, and one which has failed to distinguish itself through superior flight performance compared to older models. NATO's fifth-generation fighter fleet would thus likely suffer a similar fate if it attempted to penetrate Russian airspace without conducting a very intensive old-style suppression campaign against their air defenses. This should give NATO's war planners considerable pause. I personally doubt it will, however, because if NATO has distinguished itself in any way during this conflict it is through unfounded, preening arrogance.
- Alcibiades
25th February 2023 16:36
Tintin
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
From Berlin, yesterday, on the first anniversary of the Russian intervention. May the good sense these German citizens display here catch like a fire across the rest of their country and Europe more widely :flower:
❗️Ukrainian provocation in Berlin turned into a monument to Russian soldiers
🇩🇪 While thousands of Germans are holding a rally for peace in the German capital, Ukrainians, who do not want it by any means, are staging provocations in the city.
Yesterday, the Ukrainians brought a destroyed tank in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin.
🌹But as early as this morning, hundreds of German residents who disagreed with the action of the Ukrainians covered the tank with thousands of red roses.
🕊 In memory of the victims of the Ukrainian conflict, of the civilians who have been killed by the Ukrainian army and the soldiers who have defended them.
🔺Alexander von Bismarck, great-grandson of the famous Otto, the first German chancellor, also came to the square with flowers. He calls on the authorities to negotiate and reminds them that no one wants war with Russia.
The combat version of the Marker robot has an electronic catalog in the control system with images of targets both in the visible range and in the infrared. Accordingly, the robot can automatically determine the enemy’s equipment. For example, as soon as deliveries of the American Abrams & German Leopard Tanks to the Ukrainian troops begin, Marker will receive an appropriate electronic image and be able to detect and hit American and German tanks with ATGMs automatically,” Rogozin said.
Russia sends killer robots to Ukraine to destroy modern tanks deployed by the West. The combat robot can recognize and disable Western tanks.
The so-called 'Marker' is an unmanned vehicle that is controlled by Artificial Intelligence. The robot is equipped with a variety of sensors that help detect and attack targets, such as Abrams or Leopard main battle tanks.
The killer robot can function autonomously for days without having to refuel and is equipped with various weapon systems. He can also disable drones with electromagnetic pulses (EMPs).
They were rumors for the time being, but now the Marker appears to actually exist. The German journalist Thomas Röper captured images of it. He was the only foreign journalist at the very first presentation of the new Russian combat robot.
Hide for days
The robot can hide for days to wait for enemy tanks and then destroy them from a great distance. It has a field of fire of 360 degrees.
The Marker can also distinguish between friendly troops, enemy troops and civilians, and evacuate wounded.
If you were concerned that Ukraine might run out of money to buy more weapons and perpetuate the proxy war against Russia, you can rest at ease. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced that Ukraine will be receiving another $10 billion – added to the $113 billion U.S. taxpayers have already shelled out – to “the most corrupt nation in Europe.” Guest host Aaron Maté and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger discuss Joe Biden’s comments in April 2022 insisting that the United States help fund pension payments and otherwise put money “in the pockets” of suffering Ukrainians.
25th February 2023 19:15
Tintin
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Four Christmases ago an ex-British ambassador to a certain European country asked me why the excellent relations between the West and Russia of the 1990s (when he was an ‘attache’ in the British Embassy in Moscow) had so regrettably dissolved. I answered him simply: ‘Because the arrogant West spat in Russia’s face’. He had not been expecting that answer and the only reply of the old spy was astounded silence. I maintain its truth.
- Batiushka, for the Saker blog
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For the First Anniversary: 24 February 2023
Tell everyone that the evil that is in the world will grow even stronger,
but that it is not evil that will triumph, but love.
Tsar Nicholas II
A published author for 35 years on Church and cultural matters, I wrote a first article for the Saker that was published on 29 March 2022. It seems strange now that it took so long for me to offer to write here, as Andrei and I have the same spiritual background. The SMO in the Ukraine was the turning-point. This article, for 24th February 2023, is the last for Andrei’s blog. Appropriately for the Orwellian-minded, it is the 84th article in those 330 odd days, one every four days. Thank you, Andrei. As for future writings on geopolitical and cultural themes, I will be talking to Pepe Escobar.
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Old Russia and Old Europe
I am an Old Russian who lives in Old Europe. I have lived in several European countries, not only in Russia. But just as I never recognised the New Russia, nor do I recognise the New Europe. Just as I recognised neither the Soviet Union with its post-Sovietism, nor do I recognise the European Union with its post-Europeanism. The latter Union was born just a few days after the funeral of the former Union, as the demons that had haunted the USSR for exactly 75 years from December 1916 to December 1991 crossed westwards and found another corrupted and rotting corpse to infest and consume. I believe that we are now at a millennial parting of the ways in world history with the clear and abject failure of the Western world. Although those of nominal faith are riven by nationalist politics, compromised by money-oriented careerism, strangled by bureaucratic centralism and reduced by superstitious ritualism, we follow another way. For the King is coming and we must be ready to meet Him.
I was brought up on Tsar Nicholas II, the man who is maligned far more than Vladimir Putin, and on the murdered Alexander Pushkin and Ivan Turgenev, but also on William Shakespeare, Johann von Goethe, Alphonse Daudet and Knut Hamsun. I listened to Piotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rakhmaninov, but also to Johann Strauss, Edvard Grieg, Charles Trenet, Amalia Rodrigues and Albert Ketelby. I lived in Saint Petersburg, but also in Oslo, Paris, Thessaloniki, Lisbon and Vienna, passing through Belgrade, Geneva, Berlin, Prague, Madrid, Rome, London, Helsinki, Budapest, Bucharest and some very obscure but far more significant places in-between, for their significance is mystical.
There is a birch forest and dusty summer tracks just outside Ekaterinburg in the Urals, a log peasant house outside Great Novgorod, a village on the Slovak border with the Ukraine where they have never spoken either Slovak or Ukrainian, the whitest sandy beach in the Gaelic Outer Hebrides by a ruined monk’s cell, a fragrant pine forest on the ambered Baltic coast of Latvia, a dark backstreet in Porto where I had a funeral, the woods of Thassos in the azure-blue Aegean, a secret, lilac-filled courtyard in north-east Paris left over from the time of Zola, a path by Lake Balaton in Hungary and a path by Lake Naroch in Belarus, and a little wooden chapel in the Romanian Carpathians that belongs to hermit-shepherds.
They have all played a part. All these places, and many others, form one continuous story. But that is the little epic of a family with branches scattered across Old Russia and Old Europe and which is yet to be told. The tale of that Resurrection is for another time and another place.
Russia Now
Four Christmases ago an ex-British ambassador to a certain European country asked me why the excellent relations between the West and Russia of the 1990s (when he was an ‘attache’ in the British Embassy in Moscow) had so regrettably dissolved. I answered him simply: ‘Because the arrogant West spat in Russia’s face’. He had not been expecting that answer and the only reply of the old spy was astounded silence. I maintain its truth.
In 1714 Tsar Peter I opened a window on Europe. Russia never closed it. But in 2014 the West did. The bad news was that Russia was sick for 300 years with an obsession with the setting sun of the Western world, the Abendland, the Evening land, as the Germans rightly have it.
The good news is that Russia is recovering from this obsession, because in 2014 it turned eastwards with its other head, to the rising sun. In 2014 Russia turned eastwards because the arrogant West had spat in its face. And, unsurprisingly, it found daybreak in the east much more pleasant than nightfall. Russia very quickly made friends with China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Iran – to name but a few. In fact, Russia very quickly made friends with seven-eighths of the world, where its real friends had been all along.
As President Putin said in his speech of 21 February, Russia is ‘an ancient, independent and quite distinct Civilisation’. Therefore, just because arrogant Europe spat in its face, Russia does not now have to face an identity crisis. It has refound its identity in being what it is, Northern Eurasia. It no longer has to pretend to be only the Western half of itself, it has reclaimed the double-headed eagle which faces both East and West.
But this does mean that the rest of Europe has to face an identity crisis. And this is serious. For it. Because, having renounced its Civilisation, it has lost its identity. And because without Russia, Europe cannot survive. Why else did the US try to destroy and substitute for Ukrainian Civilisation? It was in order to cut little Kiev off from its Russian child, who had become much greater than Kiev, just as it tried to cut off little Europe from Russia, that had become much greater than it. Why else did the US blow up Nordstream? It was to cut off the small north-western peninsula of Eurasia from the other half of Europe and so from all Eurasia, so as to make it a fully dependent invalid of the US.
The Ukraine and Europe
As we have said a multitude of times, Russia only ever had three aims in this conflict: the Demilitarisation and Denazification of the territory at present known as the Ukraine and the Liberation of the territory at present known as the Donbass. Demilitarisation. Denazification. Liberation. Three words. It is not the tens of thousands of words of the EU directive on the regulatory height of forklift truck seats. (I used to know the author). What has happened after a year is that through Western foolishness the territory to be demilitarised and denazified, the Ukraine, has had to be expanded, and the territory to be liberated, the Donbass, has had to be expanded.
As a result of ever-escalating Western aggression and its supply of ‘long-range weapons’, Russia has now had to go further ‘to repel the menace from our borders’. (I quote from President Putin’s same speech). In other words, the Demilitarisation and Denazification of the Ukraine has become the Demilitarisation and Denazification of all Europe, for Europe has been Ukrainianised. It was its own choice. And the Liberation of the Donbass has become the Liberation of all the Ukraine, for the Ukraine has been Donbassised. It was its own choice.
For, through its utterly suicidal foolishness, all that part of Europe that lies to the west of the borders of the Russian Federation and Belarus, has become a borderland. Europe is now the European borderland vassal of the US, controlled by puppet governors, appointed by the Court in Washington. Today there is a Zelensky court jester in every European Capital. Their only qualification is the ability to juggle. If they cannot, they are disposed of. The proof of this is that when Russian troops have liberated the whole territory of the present Ukraine, NATO and its equally US-ordered sister-organisation, the EU, will collapse. Russia will not need to demilitarise, denazify and liberate Europe.
Demilitarisation will be implemented by the collapse of NATO. Denazification will be implemented by the collapse of the EU and the rest of borderland Europe beyond the Russian borders. As for Liberation, it will be implemented by the rebellions of the peoples of Europe against the narcissistic vassals of their US Nazi Overlord. Then there will be a Free Europe.
And then Russia will be gently tapped on the shoulder by the countries of Europe, who one by one will humbly ask not to be forgotten. Oppressed Serbia has not been. Nor has gallant, if diplomatic, Hungary. However, others, especially those further west, will have to do a lot more to attract attention. Russia is busy elsewhere with far more important things than the Europe that is woke, that is, spiritually and so morally asleep, and so irrelevant.
Between 1914 and 2014 Europe attempted to commit suicide three times. World War I, from which Russia was ejected by a regime-change organised from London and New York and camouflaged as a ‘Revolution’, was won by the US, both militarily and politically. World War II, in which Russia was only allowed to achieve its World War I aims of liberating Vienna and Berlin, was won by the US, not militarily, but politically.
However, this present war, which is World War III and will be called so by the historians of the future, will be won by Russia, both militarily and politically. It will be the victory that Russia was deprived of in 1917 by the Anglo-Zionist conspiracy. Therefore, World War III, lost both militarily and politically by the US, will mean that the US loses its Empire. Its previous pride will be humbled and its previous impunity will be punished.
Afterword
In all my wanderings through Russia and Europe I have always believed that Russia must return to its roots and identity in order to refind itself. Since 2014, quite miraculously, this has been happening. However, I have always believed that Europe too must return to its roots and identity in order to refind itself. This can be so through the example of Russia’s return, but it will be very radical and it will hurt a lot. Just as it hurt and hurts Russia. Humility, like the Church, always hurts.
Nevertheless, all can still come right, injustices can still be righted. The thirst for justice and for restitution can still triumph over the conspiracies of the past. It is always the same sevenfold story: Repentance, return, redemption, rebirth, restoration, restitution and resurrection. They form one continuous story. But that is the great epic of all the families with branches scattered across Russia and Europe and which is yet to be told. The tale of that Resurrection is for another time and another place.
23 February 2023
25th February 2023 20:22
Bill Ryan
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
Quote:
Posted by Bill Ryan
I've not been able to find the original source, but it's been widely reported that a Ukrainian soldier in Bakhmut has stated that the life expectancy of an untrained soldier newly arrived on the front line there is four hours.
'Nonstop shelling': Former US Marine in Bakhmut, Ukraine, says fighting is 'chaotic'
The average lifespan on the frontline of the fierce fighting in the city of Bakhmut is "four hours," according to an American fighting side by side with the Ukrainian army against Russian forces in the Donbas.
Former U.S. Marine Troy Offenbecker, of Michigan, told ABC News that the situation in the city, which has seen some of the deadliest fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion, is "chaotic" and has been dubbed "the meat grinder."
"It's been pretty bad on the ground," he told ABC News. "A lot of casualties. The life expectancy is around four hours on the frontline."
The average lifespan on the frontline of the fierce fighting in the city of Bakhmut is "four hours".
So Nuland has decided that Europe should decide whether the main stakeholder of Nordstream should be allowed to investigate its destruction. So Nuland has made herself "Europe’s boss" - openly.
25th February 2023 22:29
Bill Ryan
Re: WW3? Ukraine/US vs. Donbass/Russia
A lovely photo. As a kind of misguided and cynical monument, the Germans placed a wrecked Russian tank right by the Russian embassy in Berlin.
Thousands of Berliners have responded all day by covering it with flowers. :heart:
US-trained Afghan special forces recruited by Wagner Group in Ukraine: Report
New reports of US-trained Afghan special forces joining the fight in Ukraine, but on the Russian side, are emerging. The Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor firm that has played a vital role in the battle for the town of Bakhmut in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, is recruiting Afghan fighters that US special forces spent decades training.
Russia and Ukraine have fought bitterly to control Bakhmut, with many soldiers killed on both sides, despite repeated Ukrainian claims the now largely depopulated town has any strategic value.
However, as the Financial Times reported, after eight months of combat, Russian forces are close to capturing the city, approaching from three directions, leaving Ukraine’s main supply line under severe pressure and forcing Kiev to face “an agonizing choice over the cost of holding its ground.”
With relentless shelling and WWI-style trench warfare, Russian forces have captured several towns and villages around Bakhmut in recent weeks, most notably the salt mining town of Soledar, 15km to the north.
Reports emerged early in the war, in April 2022, that former Afghan commandos were fighting for pay on the Ukrainian side.
But reports of Afghan special forces fighting instead on the Russian side began to emerge in the fall of last year. An AP report from 31 October described how Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside US troops during the two-decade occupation of Afghanistan fled to Iran after the chaotic US withdrawal in August 2021.
Russia reportedly then recruited these special forces members to fight in Ukraine.
Three former Afghan generals told the AP that the Russians wished to attract thousands of the former elite Afghan commandos to create a “foreign legion,” offering $1,500-a-month salaries and promises of safe havens for themselves and their families in Iran.
“They don’t want to go fight — but they have no choice,” said General Abdul Raof Arghandiwal, due to fears of being forced by the Iranian government to return to Afghanistan. “They ask me, ‘Give me a solution. What should we do? If we go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us.’”
The US military left Afghanistan in a chaotic fashion in August 2021 following the complete disintegration of the US-trained Afghan army in the face of the Taliban.
While exposing the Afghan special forces to the threat of reprisals from the new Taliban government, the US withdrawal simultaneously opened the door to more robust US military support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.
In a December 2022 State Department for year-end press conference, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken explained that “if we were still in Afghanistan, it would have, I think, made much more complicated the support that we’ve been able to give and that others have been able to give Ukraine” against Russia.
Though fighting between the Ukrainian army and Moscow-backed separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine had been steady since 2014, the war escalated in February 2022 when Russia launched what it called a special military operation and invaded Ukraine.
Some analysts have argued the White House sought to deliberately provoke the Russian invasion, which, if true, may shed light on Washington’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan five months prior.
