German authorities warn people against becoming 'disposable agents' for Russia

BERLIN — German security authorities are warning people against becoming “disposable agents” as worries mount about Russia using social media to find recruits for spying and sabotage in or against Germany.

Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks and other incidents across Europe since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. They worry that the risks are rising as untrained saboteurs are increasingly used. German officials have voiced concern over the use of “low-level agents.”

Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office said Tuesday that, along with the country's domestic, foreign and military intelligence services, it is seeing increasing activity in Germany and elsewhere in which Russian intelligence services — directly or via intermediaries — apparently use social media to recruit people for espionage or sabotage.

It said the so-called “low-level agents” or “disposable agents” carry out crimes without receiving intelligence training, for only a little money and often without knowing who is ordering the activities or what their purpose is.

“They are ‘used’ and then ‘thrown away,’” the police office said in introducing a campaign titled “Don't become a disposable agent.” It warned that “anti-constitutional sabotage” carried a maximum sentence of five years in prison and espionage can carry a 10-year sentence.

It urged people to get in touch with Germany’s domestic intelligence agency if they or acquaintances have been contacted by strangers offering them money to engage in activity such as spreading pro-Russia slogans, scoping out people or property, or causing damage.

Several suspected cases are currently under investigation in Germany, involving among other things arson, damage to property, drone overflights and suspicious filming and photography, police said.