Thread by @LCueilleur

Moscow's ears in Germany

#thread
Germany is an important spy target for Moscow. Russia also uses the country as a base for satellite espionage - the platform for this are diplomatic missions and a cultural centre. There are a few interesting details 1/12

Russian #SIGINT activities in Germany have increased significantly in the last decade. In the middle of Berlin, on the edge of the government district, surrounded by government administration buildings, lies the Russian Embassy 2/12

On the roof of the property you can see the classic HF "Cage dipole" as well as other receiving antennas bild.de/politik/inland… 3/12

Bur there is more. On the roof of a rear building on Behrensstraße, 10 sat dishes can be seen with the help of Google Timelaps (June 2021). For comparison - October 2000 there were two or three? A significant increase in sat (#sigint) capacity is clearly visible in 2005. 4/12

Another satellite dish was installed on the highest point above the Kuppelsaal in the Embassy's main building. Visible as of December 2005. 5/12

A few hundred metres away from the Russian Embassy is the "Russian House" at Friedrichstraße 176 (opened 1984). It is a cultural institution. Western intelligence services see the building as a covert intelligence centre. Not without reason, as you can see on Google Timelaps 6/12

Major communication cables run through Friedrichstraße - even before the fall of the Wall between East and West. During the #ColdWar, Moscow had these lines in its sights - with the help of the #Stasi 7/12

Interesting point: In Germany (as in other countries), there are clear instructions for communication nodes near diplomatic missions: Communications via official lines must then be rerouted 8/12

Former #FAPSI - a kind of Russian #NSA - was active in Berlin until the 2000s. It had its ears on the Telekom nodes in the city after the fall of the Wall. The Russian embassy had a „warehouse“ in Berlin-Karlshorst specifically for this purpose 9/12

„We believe that the property (...) is a residence of the Russian intel service #FAPSI, which also serves to monitor Berlin's telephone traffic," a high-ranking representative of counterintelligence #BfV told the Berliner Zeitung (1996) 10/12 web.archive.org/web/2003052300…

Now let's look at Bonn. There you will find the Russian Consulate General - formerly the Embassy in West Germany. There are 8 satellite dishes (red), numerous antennas (green) and a #Sigint shed (yellow) on the buildings (status March 2020). 11/12

If you look at May 2003, at least the satellite capacities were not yet developed 12/12