Interview: 'A brilliant piece of Russian espionage'

Photo by Carlo von Reyher on Unsplash

Dear Reader,

Shortly before Christmas, police raided the apartment and offices of a spy in Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND). At the centre of the investigation is an agent, known only as Carsten L. who is suspected of betraying state secrets to the Russians.

The investigation is taking place in utmost secrecy for fear that any leaks could tip the Russians off to what the BND knows. But it is clear that that the affair is one of the most spectacular cases of double agent work inside a western intelligence agency in decades.

Carsten L. wasn’t any old spy, he was a division head inside the BND’s signal intelligence unit, which listens in on enemy communications. Media reports suggest that he was handing over highly sensitive battlefield information from Ukraine to his Russian handlers.

To understand a bit more about the case, I spoke with Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, the author of numerous books on the BND.

Schmidt-Eenboo…