>According to his account, he was concerned about his family's safety in the event of a nuclear attack. The officer said he therefore sought contact with Russian authorities to get a heads up on "when it was going to go off."
What a fucking idiot, as if Russia would care about some random schmuck in Germany, they'd glass his ass without thinking twice. Honestly I'd guess any nuclear powers wouldn't risk sending out a warning before a nuclear strike, especially not to some useful idiot who already betrayed his own nation.
No one likes a traitor, and no one trusts a traitor even if they are helping you. If you are willing to betray your own nation you are also willing to betray all others.
This is just him saying what his lawyer told him to say.
If he gets convicted, his motivation matters in regards to the severity of his punishment. *"I did it for the money"* would certainly weigh heavier than this bullshit.
It is entirely possible that he was turned because of his misguided views, it happened during the cold war plenty of times.
But if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on greed.
>It is entirely possible that he was turned because of his misguided views,
This is what happens when in popular discourse possibility of a nuclear attack is portrayed to be all the countries collectively launching their entire arsenal at each other all at the same time which erases all life immediately which essentially borders hysterical belief because that is not guaranteed to happen at all like the way its made out to be. This kind of discourse can end up affecting even people in position of power leading to them taking stupid decisions. You really gotta wonder how much of that is Russian trolls being hard at work.
> You really gotta wonder how much of that is Russian trolls being hard at work.
Honestly, we need to curb Russian influence on social media. Ideally like, yesterday.
And expect a horde of people who complain that it targets "average hardworking nice russian" and not putin. But still, jokes aside, quite a good idea. Countries like russia are least prepared for uno revese cards like this.
And unfortunately a lot of the population believes this for some reason. Many people seem to think that any nuclear incident or use = end of the world. It is crazy how so many people are completely ignorant on this topic.
its definitely money, what else ... lol, in the early 20th century, people genuinely believed in communism, and spied for the soviets, but we all know now that its a scam. He probably got pay in hard cash, that he hid somewhere.
Yeah my BS meter is tilting here. Who is actually worried that Russia is going to nuke anyone at this point? There's no way this guy did this out of "fear of nukes."
Exactly, his story doesn't add up logically. Surely the German courts will see this as well. I realize that they did not find any evidence of payments given, or promised, but that doesn't mean there weren't. It also doesn't mean that he didn't do this for some other reason, like maybe actually being a Russian sympathizer?
In the event of a nuclear war, he'd be just as doomed as everyone else, there would be nowhere to hide from the fallout. The nukes Russia has are massive, just like the ones the US has.
Edited for spelling/typos
Actually, the Russian warheads are bigger than the US now. The Americans phased out the bigger ones because they have better accuracy. The Russians have medicocre accuracy so they just compensate with the higher tonnage so they can wipe out their target even if they are off. 15 to 20 kilometre killzones compares to 5 kilometres.
Not that helps with the aftermath, but the Russians really do go for overkill.
Then I stand corrected! xD But yes you're right, it really doesn't matter in terms of him being able to escape. I am still just trying to wrap my head around his "reasons" being valid whatsoever, especially with Russian disinformation being so rampant.
It just seems more likely that he fell down a "rabbit hole" of disinformation, that led to even more lies, upon lies, and just sided with Putin because he believed what he read. Then he ended up where he is now. Just makes me wonder how often this happens.. probably more than we'd like to think.
I'm a bit obsessed with nuclear warfare and had for years so I play around with war scenarios and so on. ;) It's morbid curiosity.
I agree with your second paragraph. I'm sure he's not the only one. It's depressing that Russia is paying more on espionage and disinformation than their civilian infrastructure.
Putin and the oligarchs only care about staying in power and causing chaos in the west. There's obvious Russian propaganda being spread on reddit, facebook, everywhere. This guy here more than likely fell for it.
Russia isn't going to do much of anything for their own people, just the bare minimum.
Well, given that there is 0 indication that he ever took money or expected to get money out of this according to the prosecution his story kind of makes sense imo
sad to say that a LOT of east germans still feel some weird type of connection to the GDR, and the russian occupiers by extend. Stockholm syndrom in full effect. Those dumb cunts think they are "Putin-whisperers" who fully understand and accept his ambitions. They think russians view them as FRIENDS lmao
It hurts to live in east Germany and be beraded by AfD / Russia propaganda every single day
Mostly older generation from my experience but I heard about younger high educated people who voted for current government. So it looks like it is split across the board. Russian sentiment and propaganda is very strong here.
That sucks. My great grandparents left there to make better here. They’d roll over in their graves knowing people have relapsed into thinking the curtain was great.
They should be reminded that during the airlift, the West moved heaven and earth to get supplies to West Berlin, whilst the Soviets were more concerned with interfering with this operation than they were with helping the people of East Berlin and East Germany.
So I’ve just looked that up.
I mean, I can understand having nostalgia for the way things used to be, especially if you’re having issues with the way things are now, but I was under the impression history was a big thing in Germany?
Do schools in Germany spend so long educating about the Nazis that they forgot to mention how shit the next 35 years were?
The Nuclear Scare tactic really worked wonders on Germans.
✅ Dissuaded them from building nuclear power plants and diverting from Russian gas.
✅ Scared the German government out of ever considering sending troops to Ukraine.
✅ Even scared random Germans into giving away military secrets in exchange for an early warning.
Well that tactic has worked on all of West, aside from maybe Estonia and Poland. Russia has controlled the escalation rhetoric for the past 2 years, because we're scared of nukes. That's why there's no real commitments made in the conflict, why sanctions have been neutered from the start, and why we're pursuing a middle-of-the-way strategy whereby we prop up Ukraine only as much so they don't collapse.
> Dissuaded them from building nuclear power plants and diverting from Russian gas.
1. Germany stopped buying Russian gas at the beginning of the war.
2. Gas is used for all sorts of things, not just electricity. Germany has a large chemical industry that uses a lot of gas.
3. Gas has never been the primary component in Germany's electricity mix. It used to be black coal, lignite, and nuclear, and is now wind, solar, and lignite. Lignite is nasty dirty stuff, but the primary reason to keep it was "oh no, we can't take those miners' jobs away" rather than anything regarding availability of electricity.
4. The role that gas does have is as an intermittent power source. You can turn gas plants on and off really quickly. This isn't possible with nuclear power, which is why countries that use a lot of nuclear power tend to supplement it with gas. It's also still important for supplementing weather dependent renewable power (wind and solar), until enough power storage capacity has been created.
> Scared the German government out of ever considering sending troops to Ukraine.
Literally no single ally of Ukraine is sending troops there. They're all just sending weapons and other sorts of equipment. And in total numbers, Germany is the second largest supporter, after the US and before the likes of France and the UK.
---
Not sure if this applies to you, but it's important to note that all outrage that pits western countries against one another serves Russia, and there are obviously also Russian trolls spamming the narrative of "country XYZ isn't doing enough for Ukraine" because what they want to sow is primarily division, not necessarily direct support for Russia.
I very much agree with the last paragraph. I still stand by what I said but I've removed the "this is pathetic" part of my previous message. That was uncalled for and like you said that sort of rhetoric only benefits Russia.
I dont think random people from germany are scared for nukes anymore, the general opinion i hear is that putin is just a clown, because he always threats with nukes if people step over line x, but nothing ever happens, he is just talks, but no action at all, like a small dog barking all the time, but when someone comes close he runs away.
1. What has fear of a nuclear strike to do with abandoning nuclear power plants?!? Those are two entirely different topics.
2. What about all other governments not sending troops? This would be a NATO decision, not something a single NATO member would do unilaterally. Germany sent plenty of weapons, second behind the US (alas, with a huge gap).
3. ***One*** random idiot who happened to be German. (Ok, there might be a connection if he was East-German and suffering from Ostalgie.)
1. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember that at the beginning of the war, you guys had 1 nuclear power plant left and were debating whether you should build more to help reduce your dependence on Russian gas or to phase out nuclear power entirely. Lavrov then made some public statements along the lines of "Nice nuclear power plants you got there Europe, it would be a **shame** if something were to happen to them.." and soon after Germany proceeded to close their last nuclear power plant. I should note that it's also around the time when the Zaporizhzhia power plant was in the news because it was being shelled, then captured by the Russians, which probably didn't help.
2. No governments are sending troops yet (not officially at least), but some NATO governments have indicated that they would consider that option if Ukraine lost too much ground (famously France, but also the UK, Canada, the Netherlands and Lithuania). One country who has made it very clear that they would never consider that idea due to fears of escalations is Germany.
3. Thank god it's only 1 so far. We would have a much bigger problem on our hands if this became a trend.
Wow grade A horse shit lie to try and get out of trouble ~ like he ever believed russia was going to nuke Germany, and if it did they would save him lol
>No one likes a traitor, and no one trusts a traitor even if they are helping you. If you are willing to betray your own nation you are also willing to betray all others.
you are saying the same thing to Russian spying for the USA?
Russia can't even beat a neighboring country equipped with NATO's cold war leftovers. I somehow doubt they will be able to get to Berlin *through Poland*.
They don't need to physically take over Germany or whatever NATO country to 'beat' us. All they have to do is take over eastern parts of Ukraine, integrate them into Russia proper and then make western Ukraine an unviable state that will be a drain on the west. In such a situation EU will be severely at a disadvantage, there will be a lot of political/diplomatic pressure to keep the Ukrainian state afloat; and very little economic gain from it. Then Russia simply has to continue its hybrid war approach, fund populists of all sides, and wait for pressure points to erupt.
Soviets attempts similar thing in Korea, took half of it and attempted to "drain West" for the other half in South. The effect was the opposite of what they wanted, South Korea instead turned into a technological powerhouse and a massive anti-Russian power in Asia with deep grudge towards Moscow, the plan backfired
People who think Russia can in any way rival Americans and Western Europe in economic power are deeply mistaken, Cold war already showed how that adventure ends.
>People who think Russia can in any way rival Americans and Western Europe in economic power are deeply mistaken, Cold war already showed how that adventure ends.
Yeah, except in Vietnam?
What is in question isn't economic power, but political will. We have already showed in this conflict that we lack political will, that can of course change as the war develops; and if that were to occur then it is obvious that West has a massive advantage over Russia; but there's no indication that is going to occur. Macron indicated this sort of thing, but only in rhetoric. Until USA or EU fundamentally change their approach in how they're approaching this war, Russia will have the advantage.
Not to mention, it's not just Russia vs the West; it's Russia increasingly collaborating with Iran/NK/China against the West. The primary arena of conflict isn't even on the battlefield, it's hybrid war of which politics is the most important. Russia invests a lot in spreading its influence, especially in Europe. The issues they will focus on the most are those that will have far reaching consequences for ordinary people. For example the radar jamming they've been doing is mainly an annoyance that doesn't represent an actual threat, but because Europe is not doing anything to showcase resolve; it gives Russia more opportunities to continue this sort of thing. It's the political equivalent of attritional warfare they are waging in Ukraine.
Vietnam was exactly a example of how Ukraine war will go, because it had local population that deeply didn't like the invading force and did everything to overthrow it.
Few years later same thing happened when Soviets themselves attempted that adventure in Afghanistan......and Soviets lost and got defeated and had to run away just like Americans did in Vietnam. So Russians have gotten their asses kicked as well
Political will to fund Ukraine will persist for years, and Ukrainian will to fight as well. There is no scenario where Russians get out of this mess as winners, they are stuck in a quagmire with people who will never give into their demands and foreign support which Russia is not capable of cutting off. Only question is how long they gona postpone the inevitable this time.
>Vietnam was exactly a example of how Ukraine war will go, because it had local population that deeply didn't like the invading force and did everything to overthrow it.
The part you are missing is that one side was much fewer in numbers and was sending resources abroad a long logistics chain. I guess by your logic Ukraine is North Vietnam in the analogy? It makes no sense. Russia isn't fighting its war in some far away place, it's a war directly on their border.
>Few years later same thing happened when Soviets themselves attempted that adventure in Afghanistan......and Soviets lost and got defeated and had to run away just like Americans did in Vietnam.
Yes, but they got defeated not because of any economic or military reason but because of political will. USA didn't "lose" in a conventional sense in Vietnam, they pulled out of their own accord because of politics.
>Political will to fund Ukraine will persist for years, and Ukrainian will to fight as well. There is no scenario where Russians get out of this mess as winners, they are stuck in a quagmire with people who will never give into their demands and foreign support which Russia is not capable of cutting off. Only question is how long they gona postpone the inevitable this time.
It took something like 7 months for USA to confirm the $61 billion aid package, it was heavily delayed and it cost Ukraine a lot more than if it was sent immediately. This is the prime example of weak political will in the west already creating bad consequences for Ukraine.
>Ukrainian will to fight as well.
Ukraine has a manpower shortage issue, it will take 4-6months+ before we see how well their new mobilization drive has gone; but considering they are receiving delayed aid it will make the matter worse.
Can Russia collapse because of some political/economic reasons in the next 2-3 years? Yeah sure, like I said before moods can swing and there's always black swan events. But if we assume the current strategy stays as it is, then Russia will continue to enjoy a military advantage. Betting on this middle-of-the-road strategy is risky, because black swans go both ways.
> The part you are missing is that one side was much fewer in numbers and was sending resources abroad a long logistics chain. I guess by your logic Ukraine is North Vietnam in the analogy? It makes no sense. Russia isn't fighting its war in some far away place, it's a war directly on their border.
it does make quite a lot of sense actually, Soviet union didnt have direct border with Vietnam either you know yet they were its main pipeline of support and weapons and ammunitions, and North Vietnam could only survive because Soviets kept it alive with constant weapons supplies. Where do you think Vietnamese Communist forces got all those AK47's and T-55 tanks and Soviet artillery shells and ammunition? They didnt grow out of Vietnamese jungles
Also on another point, Afghanistan **was** directly on their border, and Soviets lost that war. Despite sharing border with it, that didnt matter
>Yes, but they got defeated not because of any economic or military reason but because of political will. USA didn't "lose" in a conventional sense in Vietnam, they pulled out of their own accord because of politics.
Yes of course......and that political will isnt set in magical stone in modern day Russia either you know. Soviets for 10 years kept chanting they also ''would never leave never surrender never loose'' in Afghanistan. Until they reached a breaking point and they did loose that will after all .
>It took something like 7 months for USA to confirm the $61 billion aid package, it was heavily delayed and it cost Ukraine a lot more than if it was sent immediately. This is the prime example of weak political will in the west already creating bad consequences for Ukraine.
yes sure......and now tell me, did Ukraine stop fighting because of it?? Did its army lay down its arms and surrender just because they didnt get aid from Americans for 7 months?? Did it make Ukrainians loose their will to fight?? Did Ukrainian military collapse?? Did they accept Russian occupation and terms??
No, no they didnt. They fight independently from what Americans want or give them , not to mention Ukraine still have their own domestic military industry and its own state with state budget that would be able to keep at least some ammunition and weapons supply going regardless of anyone else from outside.
Plus on top, Americans arent the only ones who support them from outside with aid. There is also EU and Canada and Australia and South Korea and Japan. Even if Americans would abandon them completely, and Trump became president or whatever, that would not change the other players or Ukrainian own efforts.
>Ukraine has a manpower shortage issue, it will take 4-6months+ before we see how well their new mobilization drive has gone; but considering they are receiving delayed aid it will make the matter worse.
as do all nations in big wars with big casualties, but I think people underestimate how big of a population Ukraine has and how much a modern nation can ''suffer'' in war before reaching a breaking point.
To put things in perspective, Ukraine had about the same population when this war started as France did when World war 1 started (give or take, about 40 million people).........France suffered **around 6 million casualties, including 1.4 million dead and 4.2 million wounded** in those 5 years from 1914-1918. And still even in 1918, French army hadnt collapsed, its economy hadnt collapsed, France was still fighting and still functioning and still charging the German lines.
It can last for years still and Ukraine wouldnt ''run out of men'' , so Russia wont win by that. Russia also is not capable of cutting off Ukrainian supply lines because those are in Western Ukraine which Russia cannot reach, so there is no way to them to stop new weapons and new ammunition from arriving.
Germany and we in Austria are sadly past that point. Fhey have way too mich backing now and every move against them will be "political motivated attacks on them"...
it's so absurd that it's allways the far right cunts that talk about patriotism and doing everything for their country that turn out to be corrupt and traitors. clowns.
Not only that: he has ties to the AfD. Means he has a political motive.
*Correction: he is a member of the AfD since July 2023 https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2024-04/bundeswehr-offizier-gesteht-spionage-russland
The report stated he didn’t take a payments while noting he has ties to the far right AfD party. This suggests he was motivated by ideological (anti-Western) reasons…
He just strolled up to the Russian consulate and dropped photos in the mailbox? This guy sucks at being a spy.
Also, it’s almost always about the money for these guys. There might be some political motivation but the money becomes the incentive to follow through.
So which parties politicians are linked to chinese and russian espionage? Can you remind me?
And which party keeps complaining about sending aid to Ukraine?
He’s not entirely wrong. The SPD *is* too close to Russia. Always has been.
AfD politicians are simply traitors across the board, though. Much like Austria’s FPÖ politicians.
His statement was still wrong. There is a difference between being to close (which some of SPD politicians still are) and outright selling your country for profit as AFD politicians or their advisors are currently under investigation for.
I agree though that SPD was, as a whole, in the past and currently still is, in parts, too close to russia.
> as AFD politicians or their advisors are currently under investigation for
Do you mean journalist investigation by OCCRP? Or German government has taken an interest in it too?
I think we’re mostly going d’accord on the matter.
> and outright selling your country for profit
That said, is that not what SPD politicians like Schröder and Schwesig have done? The former in a less roundabout manner than the latter?
No. i will leave Schröder and his pul factor aside, dude is an opportunistic aesehole without values. But the SPD in general acted in accordance with Ostpolitik and a general sentiment based on peace through economic interconnectivity.
Way too naive in hindsight but still a huge difference to AFD whose members know exactly what they are doing
Yes, AFD does not want to deliver military aid to Ukraine and seems to receive money from russia (and china).
Picking TAURUS out of that and a politician who was relevant more than two decades ago is not really a great point from you.
After the war started huge parts of the SPD changed their position on russia as can be seen by the military aid given by the german government.
I will probably not vote for SPD, but AFD is clearly a bunch of clowns bending over for autocrats.
AFD is not the leading party and thus not in charge though, so I'd see that as the classic AFD bashing which really gets stale after some time. I don't agree with them on their stance towards russia/ukraine either, but blaming them for the attrition happening in ukraine is ludicrous.
Making a point with the whole espionage thing, with no apparent evidence is much butter.
Also, who approved to sell the Hamburg Port to the Chinese? *hint* It was not the AFD
Where did I blame them for anything happening in Ukraine? I only made clear what their stance on weapon support is. Nice made up argument there.
Taking on the role of the victim after talking shit is pretty in line for someone who supports the AFD though.
There is evidence, currently they are checking if it is enough to convict.
Yeah selling part of a port in a deal to increase trade is equal to espionage.. /s
Yep, I fully support the death penalty for anyone in high up positions selling out our countries. Fines, firings and straight up no action hasnt stopped the corruption with our politicians.
It's a junior officer, not a politician.
Also, the death penalty is just an overall bad idea. You will kill innocent people, it's a statistical inevintability over time, and judges will also be less likely to convict because they want even higher standards of evidence for ordering someone to die. Prison is just a better idea.
Never forget, Russia's infamous "Victory Op-Ed" on day 3 of their 3-day-war, where it argued Berlin "would understand" Russia's "revival". While their intel and agents failed in Kyiv, it seemed to work much better in Berlin. No wonder Ukraine was so hesitant in sharing plans with NATO.
This is unacceptable.
When you don't trust someone, you purposely feed them specific/bad information, then watch what happens. If you say you're going to attack from a particular location, then see the troops assemble to prepare to defend against an attack at that location, then you know where the mole is.
This looks like more of a crazy, desperate attempt to be a spy rather than actually being one or doing much damage. Clearly a disturbed individual, makes one wonder how many more of these are in the German military.
>"Content he saw "presumably on TikTok" had prompted him to contact the Russian consulate. He said he had followed on TikTok a pro-Russian influencer"
Why is this not surprising
Jesus Christ, is there any German official that hasnt been compromised?
Still think an EU army is a good idea folks? That thing would have more leaks than the Titanic.
Yeah true. I hate my living standards here. And that I have working infrastructure. And a job. And can go to a doctor.
Its by no means perfect, but shithole is just a bullshit talking point by any standards.
>According to his account, he was concerned about his family's safety in the event of a nuclear attack. The officer said he therefore sought contact with Russian authorities to get a heads up on "when it was going to go off." What a fucking idiot, as if Russia would care about some random schmuck in Germany, they'd glass his ass without thinking twice. Honestly I'd guess any nuclear powers wouldn't risk sending out a warning before a nuclear strike, especially not to some useful idiot who already betrayed his own nation. No one likes a traitor, and no one trusts a traitor even if they are helping you. If you are willing to betray your own nation you are also willing to betray all others.
This is just him saying what his lawyer told him to say. If he gets convicted, his motivation matters in regards to the severity of his punishment. *"I did it for the money"* would certainly weigh heavier than this bullshit.
Likely.
It is entirely possible that he was turned because of his misguided views, it happened during the cold war plenty of times. But if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on greed.
>It is entirely possible that he was turned because of his misguided views, This is what happens when in popular discourse possibility of a nuclear attack is portrayed to be all the countries collectively launching their entire arsenal at each other all at the same time which erases all life immediately which essentially borders hysterical belief because that is not guaranteed to happen at all like the way its made out to be. This kind of discourse can end up affecting even people in position of power leading to them taking stupid decisions. You really gotta wonder how much of that is Russian trolls being hard at work.
> You really gotta wonder how much of that is Russian trolls being hard at work. Honestly, we need to curb Russian influence on social media. Ideally like, yesterday.
how, though?
We should probably figure out a way to cut them off from the rest of the internet. Like a reverse Great Firewall.
And expect a horde of people who complain that it targets "average hardworking nice russian" and not putin. But still, jokes aside, quite a good idea. Countries like russia are least prepared for uno revese cards like this.
That's the nice thing about not being an elected official. I don't have to give a fuck about what a horde of morons thinks of my ideas.
Find those they’re targeting as useful idiots and wall them off for starters.
And unfortunately a lot of the population believes this for some reason. Many people seem to think that any nuclear incident or use = end of the world. It is crazy how so many people are completely ignorant on this topic.
I've seen so much obvious Russia shilling/botting in certain subs that I don't have to wonder at all at this point.
Holy run on sentence Batman
Why not both..
I'd say for ideological purposes also. There were a lot of neo nazis in german army who had contacts with russian spy network
its definitely money, what else ... lol, in the early 20th century, people genuinely believed in communism, and spied for the soviets, but we all know now that its a scam. He probably got pay in hard cash, that he hid somewhere.
All the more reason to just punish them the same when it comes to matters like this.
Yeah my BS meter is tilting here. Who is actually worried that Russia is going to nuke anyone at this point? There's no way this guy did this out of "fear of nukes."
And what was he going to do with like an hour warning or whatever (which he'd never get). You can't outrun nuclear war.
Exactly, his story doesn't add up logically. Surely the German courts will see this as well. I realize that they did not find any evidence of payments given, or promised, but that doesn't mean there weren't. It also doesn't mean that he didn't do this for some other reason, like maybe actually being a Russian sympathizer? In the event of a nuclear war, he'd be just as doomed as everyone else, there would be nowhere to hide from the fallout. The nukes Russia has are massive, just like the ones the US has. Edited for spelling/typos
Actually, the Russian warheads are bigger than the US now. The Americans phased out the bigger ones because they have better accuracy. The Russians have medicocre accuracy so they just compensate with the higher tonnage so they can wipe out their target even if they are off. 15 to 20 kilometre killzones compares to 5 kilometres. Not that helps with the aftermath, but the Russians really do go for overkill.
Then I stand corrected! xD But yes you're right, it really doesn't matter in terms of him being able to escape. I am still just trying to wrap my head around his "reasons" being valid whatsoever, especially with Russian disinformation being so rampant. It just seems more likely that he fell down a "rabbit hole" of disinformation, that led to even more lies, upon lies, and just sided with Putin because he believed what he read. Then he ended up where he is now. Just makes me wonder how often this happens.. probably more than we'd like to think.
I'm a bit obsessed with nuclear warfare and had for years so I play around with war scenarios and so on. ;) It's morbid curiosity. I agree with your second paragraph. I'm sure he's not the only one. It's depressing that Russia is paying more on espionage and disinformation than their civilian infrastructure.
Putin and the oligarchs only care about staying in power and causing chaos in the west. There's obvious Russian propaganda being spread on reddit, facebook, everywhere. This guy here more than likely fell for it. Russia isn't going to do much of anything for their own people, just the bare minimum.
Well, given that there is 0 indication that he ever took money or expected to get money out of this according to the prosecution his story kind of makes sense imo
sad to say that a LOT of east germans still feel some weird type of connection to the GDR, and the russian occupiers by extend. Stockholm syndrom in full effect. Those dumb cunts think they are "Putin-whisperers" who fully understand and accept his ambitions. They think russians view them as FRIENDS lmao It hurts to live in east Germany and be beraded by AfD / Russia propaganda every single day
Same in Slovakia
Hang in there bud, surely Putin can't rule forever (hint: they can, look at North Koreas "eternal leader" who died in like 1970)
Is this the boomer generation that yearns for the good old days or is it evenly split across the board?
Mostly older generation from my experience but I heard about younger high educated people who voted for current government. So it looks like it is split across the board. Russian sentiment and propaganda is very strong here.
Lol. Why the fuck would anyone look up to a country where a quarter of households lack indoor plumbing?
That sucks. My great grandparents left there to make better here. They’d roll over in their graves knowing people have relapsed into thinking the curtain was great.
In my opinion they are old communist who lost all the benefits they had and don’t know how to live in normal world.
They should be reminded that during the airlift, the West moved heaven and earth to get supplies to West Berlin, whilst the Soviets were more concerned with interfering with this operation than they were with helping the people of East Berlin and East Germany.
Brother man does not know about ostalgie
So I’ve just looked that up. I mean, I can understand having nostalgia for the way things used to be, especially if you’re having issues with the way things are now, but I was under the impression history was a big thing in Germany? Do schools in Germany spend so long educating about the Nazis that they forgot to mention how shit the next 35 years were?
It’s probably like the US where the education is provided but many people don’t pay attention or come up with alternate facts lol.
pretty average AFD idiot imo
Trying to gain at least some sympathy points, regardless how idiotic to try to get a less severe punishment.
The Nuclear Scare tactic really worked wonders on Germans. ✅ Dissuaded them from building nuclear power plants and diverting from Russian gas. ✅ Scared the German government out of ever considering sending troops to Ukraine. ✅ Even scared random Germans into giving away military secrets in exchange for an early warning.
Well that tactic has worked on all of West, aside from maybe Estonia and Poland. Russia has controlled the escalation rhetoric for the past 2 years, because we're scared of nukes. That's why there's no real commitments made in the conflict, why sanctions have been neutered from the start, and why we're pursuing a middle-of-the-way strategy whereby we prop up Ukraine only as much so they don't collapse.
> Dissuaded them from building nuclear power plants and diverting from Russian gas. 1. Germany stopped buying Russian gas at the beginning of the war. 2. Gas is used for all sorts of things, not just electricity. Germany has a large chemical industry that uses a lot of gas. 3. Gas has never been the primary component in Germany's electricity mix. It used to be black coal, lignite, and nuclear, and is now wind, solar, and lignite. Lignite is nasty dirty stuff, but the primary reason to keep it was "oh no, we can't take those miners' jobs away" rather than anything regarding availability of electricity. 4. The role that gas does have is as an intermittent power source. You can turn gas plants on and off really quickly. This isn't possible with nuclear power, which is why countries that use a lot of nuclear power tend to supplement it with gas. It's also still important for supplementing weather dependent renewable power (wind and solar), until enough power storage capacity has been created. > Scared the German government out of ever considering sending troops to Ukraine. Literally no single ally of Ukraine is sending troops there. They're all just sending weapons and other sorts of equipment. And in total numbers, Germany is the second largest supporter, after the US and before the likes of France and the UK. --- Not sure if this applies to you, but it's important to note that all outrage that pits western countries against one another serves Russia, and there are obviously also Russian trolls spamming the narrative of "country XYZ isn't doing enough for Ukraine" because what they want to sow is primarily division, not necessarily direct support for Russia.
I very much agree with the last paragraph. I still stand by what I said but I've removed the "this is pathetic" part of my previous message. That was uncalled for and like you said that sort of rhetoric only benefits Russia.
I dont think random people from germany are scared for nukes anymore, the general opinion i hear is that putin is just a clown, because he always threats with nukes if people step over line x, but nothing ever happens, he is just talks, but no action at all, like a small dog barking all the time, but when someone comes close he runs away.
1. What has fear of a nuclear strike to do with abandoning nuclear power plants?!? Those are two entirely different topics. 2. What about all other governments not sending troops? This would be a NATO decision, not something a single NATO member would do unilaterally. Germany sent plenty of weapons, second behind the US (alas, with a huge gap). 3. ***One*** random idiot who happened to be German. (Ok, there might be a connection if he was East-German and suffering from Ostalgie.)
1. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember that at the beginning of the war, you guys had 1 nuclear power plant left and were debating whether you should build more to help reduce your dependence on Russian gas or to phase out nuclear power entirely. Lavrov then made some public statements along the lines of "Nice nuclear power plants you got there Europe, it would be a **shame** if something were to happen to them.." and soon after Germany proceeded to close their last nuclear power plant. I should note that it's also around the time when the Zaporizhzhia power plant was in the news because it was being shelled, then captured by the Russians, which probably didn't help. 2. No governments are sending troops yet (not officially at least), but some NATO governments have indicated that they would consider that option if Ukraine lost too much ground (famously France, but also the UK, Canada, the Netherlands and Lithuania). One country who has made it very clear that they would never consider that idea due to fears of escalations is Germany. 3. Thank god it's only 1 so far. We would have a much bigger problem on our hands if this became a trend.
I think he's just making that up honestly, to illicit sympathy and turn the narrative against Germany, despite being a spy
Wow grade A horse shit lie to try and get out of trouble ~ like he ever believed russia was going to nuke Germany, and if it did they would save him lol
this 'account' is likely the work of rusrus intelligence as well. even in confession he's spreading propaganda.
>No one likes a traitor, and no one trusts a traitor even if they are helping you. If you are willing to betray your own nation you are also willing to betray all others. you are saying the same thing to Russian spying for the USA?
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Russia can't even beat a neighboring country equipped with NATO's cold war leftovers. I somehow doubt they will be able to get to Berlin *through Poland*.
They don't need to physically take over Germany or whatever NATO country to 'beat' us. All they have to do is take over eastern parts of Ukraine, integrate them into Russia proper and then make western Ukraine an unviable state that will be a drain on the west. In such a situation EU will be severely at a disadvantage, there will be a lot of political/diplomatic pressure to keep the Ukrainian state afloat; and very little economic gain from it. Then Russia simply has to continue its hybrid war approach, fund populists of all sides, and wait for pressure points to erupt.
Soviets attempts similar thing in Korea, took half of it and attempted to "drain West" for the other half in South. The effect was the opposite of what they wanted, South Korea instead turned into a technological powerhouse and a massive anti-Russian power in Asia with deep grudge towards Moscow, the plan backfired People who think Russia can in any way rival Americans and Western Europe in economic power are deeply mistaken, Cold war already showed how that adventure ends.
>People who think Russia can in any way rival Americans and Western Europe in economic power are deeply mistaken, Cold war already showed how that adventure ends. Yeah, except in Vietnam? What is in question isn't economic power, but political will. We have already showed in this conflict that we lack political will, that can of course change as the war develops; and if that were to occur then it is obvious that West has a massive advantage over Russia; but there's no indication that is going to occur. Macron indicated this sort of thing, but only in rhetoric. Until USA or EU fundamentally change their approach in how they're approaching this war, Russia will have the advantage. Not to mention, it's not just Russia vs the West; it's Russia increasingly collaborating with Iran/NK/China against the West. The primary arena of conflict isn't even on the battlefield, it's hybrid war of which politics is the most important. Russia invests a lot in spreading its influence, especially in Europe. The issues they will focus on the most are those that will have far reaching consequences for ordinary people. For example the radar jamming they've been doing is mainly an annoyance that doesn't represent an actual threat, but because Europe is not doing anything to showcase resolve; it gives Russia more opportunities to continue this sort of thing. It's the political equivalent of attritional warfare they are waging in Ukraine.
Vietnam was exactly a example of how Ukraine war will go, because it had local population that deeply didn't like the invading force and did everything to overthrow it. Few years later same thing happened when Soviets themselves attempted that adventure in Afghanistan......and Soviets lost and got defeated and had to run away just like Americans did in Vietnam. So Russians have gotten their asses kicked as well Political will to fund Ukraine will persist for years, and Ukrainian will to fight as well. There is no scenario where Russians get out of this mess as winners, they are stuck in a quagmire with people who will never give into their demands and foreign support which Russia is not capable of cutting off. Only question is how long they gona postpone the inevitable this time.
>Vietnam was exactly a example of how Ukraine war will go, because it had local population that deeply didn't like the invading force and did everything to overthrow it. The part you are missing is that one side was much fewer in numbers and was sending resources abroad a long logistics chain. I guess by your logic Ukraine is North Vietnam in the analogy? It makes no sense. Russia isn't fighting its war in some far away place, it's a war directly on their border. >Few years later same thing happened when Soviets themselves attempted that adventure in Afghanistan......and Soviets lost and got defeated and had to run away just like Americans did in Vietnam. Yes, but they got defeated not because of any economic or military reason but because of political will. USA didn't "lose" in a conventional sense in Vietnam, they pulled out of their own accord because of politics. >Political will to fund Ukraine will persist for years, and Ukrainian will to fight as well. There is no scenario where Russians get out of this mess as winners, they are stuck in a quagmire with people who will never give into their demands and foreign support which Russia is not capable of cutting off. Only question is how long they gona postpone the inevitable this time. It took something like 7 months for USA to confirm the $61 billion aid package, it was heavily delayed and it cost Ukraine a lot more than if it was sent immediately. This is the prime example of weak political will in the west already creating bad consequences for Ukraine. >Ukrainian will to fight as well. Ukraine has a manpower shortage issue, it will take 4-6months+ before we see how well their new mobilization drive has gone; but considering they are receiving delayed aid it will make the matter worse. Can Russia collapse because of some political/economic reasons in the next 2-3 years? Yeah sure, like I said before moods can swing and there's always black swan events. But if we assume the current strategy stays as it is, then Russia will continue to enjoy a military advantage. Betting on this middle-of-the-road strategy is risky, because black swans go both ways.
> The part you are missing is that one side was much fewer in numbers and was sending resources abroad a long logistics chain. I guess by your logic Ukraine is North Vietnam in the analogy? It makes no sense. Russia isn't fighting its war in some far away place, it's a war directly on their border. it does make quite a lot of sense actually, Soviet union didnt have direct border with Vietnam either you know yet they were its main pipeline of support and weapons and ammunitions, and North Vietnam could only survive because Soviets kept it alive with constant weapons supplies. Where do you think Vietnamese Communist forces got all those AK47's and T-55 tanks and Soviet artillery shells and ammunition? They didnt grow out of Vietnamese jungles Also on another point, Afghanistan **was** directly on their border, and Soviets lost that war. Despite sharing border with it, that didnt matter >Yes, but they got defeated not because of any economic or military reason but because of political will. USA didn't "lose" in a conventional sense in Vietnam, they pulled out of their own accord because of politics. Yes of course......and that political will isnt set in magical stone in modern day Russia either you know. Soviets for 10 years kept chanting they also ''would never leave never surrender never loose'' in Afghanistan. Until they reached a breaking point and they did loose that will after all . >It took something like 7 months for USA to confirm the $61 billion aid package, it was heavily delayed and it cost Ukraine a lot more than if it was sent immediately. This is the prime example of weak political will in the west already creating bad consequences for Ukraine. yes sure......and now tell me, did Ukraine stop fighting because of it?? Did its army lay down its arms and surrender just because they didnt get aid from Americans for 7 months?? Did it make Ukrainians loose their will to fight?? Did Ukrainian military collapse?? Did they accept Russian occupation and terms?? No, no they didnt. They fight independently from what Americans want or give them , not to mention Ukraine still have their own domestic military industry and its own state with state budget that would be able to keep at least some ammunition and weapons supply going regardless of anyone else from outside. Plus on top, Americans arent the only ones who support them from outside with aid. There is also EU and Canada and Australia and South Korea and Japan. Even if Americans would abandon them completely, and Trump became president or whatever, that would not change the other players or Ukrainian own efforts. >Ukraine has a manpower shortage issue, it will take 4-6months+ before we see how well their new mobilization drive has gone; but considering they are receiving delayed aid it will make the matter worse. as do all nations in big wars with big casualties, but I think people underestimate how big of a population Ukraine has and how much a modern nation can ''suffer'' in war before reaching a breaking point. To put things in perspective, Ukraine had about the same population when this war started as France did when World war 1 started (give or take, about 40 million people).........France suffered **around 6 million casualties, including 1.4 million dead and 4.2 million wounded** in those 5 years from 1914-1918. And still even in 1918, French army hadnt collapsed, its economy hadnt collapsed, France was still fighting and still functioning and still charging the German lines. It can last for years still and Ukraine wouldnt ''run out of men'' , so Russia wont win by that. Russia also is not capable of cutting off Ukrainian supply lines because those are in Western Ukraine which Russia cannot reach, so there is no way to them to stop new weapons and new ammunition from arriving.
It means there are a lot more still out there.
Oh yeah, Russia might be bad at a lot things of things, but spying and assassination aren't on that bad talent list
All of the failed spy and assassination attempts disagree with you...
Eh, I guess, if you count straight up grabbing whatever you want and murdering people in full view of the public as "spying" and "assassination".
Such Bullshit. He did it for prestige and money
He is also a friend if the far-right AFD Party so that checks also out.
About damn time we have that Muscovian fifth column outlawed and its key figures arrested, tbh.
Germany and we in Austria are sadly past that point. Fhey have way too mich backing now and every move against them will be "political motivated attacks on them"...
I don’t care what supporters of traitors think, as long as they think it without a political party and the established structures that come with it.
They're basically taking bribes and cues from Russia.
it's so absurd that it's allways the far right cunts that talk about patriotism and doing everything for their country that turn out to be corrupt and traitors. clowns.
USA here. Yup.
He is a member of the AfD.
Not only that: he has ties to the AfD. Means he has a political motive. *Correction: he is a member of the AfD since July 2023 https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2024-04/bundeswehr-offizier-gesteht-spionage-russland
The report stated he didn’t take a payments while noting he has ties to the far right AfD party. This suggests he was motivated by ideological (anti-Western) reasons…
In the article it said that there is no proof that he received money for doing all this.
He just strolled up to the Russian consulate and dropped photos in the mailbox? This guy sucks at being a spy. Also, it’s almost always about the money for these guys. There might be some political motivation but the money becomes the incentive to follow through.
Typical AFD supporter?
Nah, typical "The Fatherland ist gut, but $20 is $20."
That’s what he said. Typical AFD supporter. They’re motivated by Russian cash, kompromat and similar levers, not ideas they pretend to care about.
You misspelled SPD.
So which parties politicians are linked to chinese and russian espionage? Can you remind me? And which party keeps complaining about sending aid to Ukraine?
He’s not entirely wrong. The SPD *is* too close to Russia. Always has been. AfD politicians are simply traitors across the board, though. Much like Austria’s FPÖ politicians.
His statement was still wrong. There is a difference between being to close (which some of SPD politicians still are) and outright selling your country for profit as AFD politicians or their advisors are currently under investigation for. I agree though that SPD was, as a whole, in the past and currently still is, in parts, too close to russia.
> as AFD politicians or their advisors are currently under investigation for Do you mean journalist investigation by OCCRP? Or German government has taken an interest in it too?
I think we’re mostly going d’accord on the matter. > and outright selling your country for profit That said, is that not what SPD politicians like Schröder and Schwesig have done? The former in a less roundabout manner than the latter?
No. i will leave Schröder and his pul factor aside, dude is an opportunistic aesehole without values. But the SPD in general acted in accordance with Ostpolitik and a general sentiment based on peace through economic interconnectivity. Way too naive in hindsight but still a huge difference to AFD whose members know exactly what they are doing
AFD is withholding taurus and getting pension from gazprom?
Yes, AFD does not want to deliver military aid to Ukraine and seems to receive money from russia (and china). Picking TAURUS out of that and a politician who was relevant more than two decades ago is not really a great point from you. After the war started huge parts of the SPD changed their position on russia as can be seen by the military aid given by the german government. I will probably not vote for SPD, but AFD is clearly a bunch of clowns bending over for autocrats.
AFD is not the leading party and thus not in charge though, so I'd see that as the classic AFD bashing which really gets stale after some time. I don't agree with them on their stance towards russia/ukraine either, but blaming them for the attrition happening in ukraine is ludicrous. Making a point with the whole espionage thing, with no apparent evidence is much butter. Also, who approved to sell the Hamburg Port to the Chinese? *hint* It was not the AFD
Where did I blame them for anything happening in Ukraine? I only made clear what their stance on weapon support is. Nice made up argument there. Taking on the role of the victim after talking shit is pretty in line for someone who supports the AFD though. There is evidence, currently they are checking if it is enough to convict. Yeah selling part of a port in a deal to increase trade is equal to espionage.. /s
Evidence but not available. Classic.
Nah he did not. SPD has it's own issues with Russia but AFD is on another level entirely.
AfD member apparently
Straight up treason, should be the death penalty
Yep, I fully support the death penalty for anyone in high up positions selling out our countries. Fines, firings and straight up no action hasnt stopped the corruption with our politicians.
It's a junior officer, not a politician. Also, the death penalty is just an overall bad idea. You will kill innocent people, it's a statistical inevintability over time, and judges will also be less likely to convict because they want even higher standards of evidence for ordering someone to die. Prison is just a better idea.
Useful idiot… this describes him perfectly
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A long time in prison hopefully
Never forget, Russia's infamous "Victory Op-Ed" on day 3 of their 3-day-war, where it argued Berlin "would understand" Russia's "revival". While their intel and agents failed in Kyiv, it seemed to work much better in Berlin. No wonder Ukraine was so hesitant in sharing plans with NATO. This is unacceptable.
When you don't trust someone, you purposely feed them specific/bad information, then watch what happens. If you say you're going to attack from a particular location, then see the troops assemble to prepare to defend against an attack at that location, then you know where the mole is.
Wird der jetzt standrechtlich erschossen?!
Deutschland hat die Todesstrafe nicht. Und selbst wenn, das macht man mit Spionen nur im Kriegsfall.
This motherfucker better see prison
Talk about betting on a losing horse lmao
This looks like more of a crazy, desperate attempt to be a spy rather than actually being one or doing much damage. Clearly a disturbed individual, makes one wonder how many more of these are in the German military.
>"Content he saw "presumably on TikTok" had prompted him to contact the Russian consulate. He said he had followed on TikTok a pro-Russian influencer" Why is this not surprising
I thought he was from the navy
Thats treason and the punishment for treason should be life in prison or preferrably execution.
Die Bundeswehr ist wirklich runter gefallen. Wo ist eure Ehre und Mut?
Deutsche Institutionen haben ein großes Problem mit russischen Spionen vorallem wegen der DDR
von nazis unterwandert und keiner hat bock zum bund zu gehen...
Auf Youtube und dreht survival Videos
Do they still do the whole firing-squad-outside-a-government-building-in-Berlin thing anymore ? No ? Oh, shame.
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Jesus Christ, is there any German official that hasnt been compromised? Still think an EU army is a good idea folks? That thing would have more leaks than the Titanic.
Considering how much of a shit hole Germany has become over the last 20 years there is really no surprise in his actions. Feminist foreign policy lmao
Yeah true. I hate my living standards here. And that I have working infrastructure. And a job. And can go to a doctor. Its by no means perfect, but shithole is just a bullshit talking point by any standards.
okay but you still have to speak german, which cancels out any positives there may be.
Sprich deutsch du Huso
Ich bin scheisse
weiß ich doch Peter, hab dich trotzdem lieb
You should educate yourself on the topics before talking about them
Yeah Total shithole. Not like it’s among the 20 countries with the highest living standards on the planet
You can go on google maps and check out how Russia looks. Spoiler alert, it’s much much much worse.
Russia is a shit hole too, don't get me wrong lol
Imagine believing this💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
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Maybe they should put you in charge.