Not much is known about what Vladimir Putin did in East Germany when stationed there as a KGB officer in the mid to late 1980s. Thanks to the KGB’s thorough destruction of evidence and the death of Putin’s aide inside the Stasi – from suicide – there is a paucity of evidence that can shed light on his activities.
Nevertheless, journalists and investigators believe it was during this time that Putin learned the dark arts of Soviet subversion and disinformation. These dark arts – aimed at splintering Western nations by dividing them internally and undermining their political systems – are, of course, still in practice today.
In her 2020 book, Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West, British journalist Catherine Belton records the testimony of a former West German terrorist who says he received support from Putin personally during the ’80s.
A former member of the Marxist-Leninist Red Army Faction – also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, a group that engaged in bombings, assassinations and bank robberies, and that was responsible for over 34 deaths – the informant told Belton the group would come together at an East German safe house in Dresden. It was in this secret location that Putin and another of his KGB colleagues would meet the Baader-Meinhof Gang.
“They would never give us instructions directly. They would just say ‘We heard you were planning this, how do you want to do it?’, and make suggestions. They would suggest other targets and ask us what we needed. We always needed weapons and cash,” the informant is quoted as saying.
The Soviet Union soon collapsed, the Berlin Wall fell, and the Baader-Meinhof Gang disbanded.
But one of the KGB officers conspiring in that Dresden safe house moved back to St Petersburg and quietly worked his way up the ladder of power. That officer now sits at the apex of the Russian state. And although he is not motivated by a Marxist-Leninist ideology, Putin still knows how to recruit left-wing groups to promote his agenda.
In 2014, NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen drew attention to Russian disinformation campaigns around energy policy in Europe, stating: “It is one of Russia’s sophisticated information and disinformation campaigns to actively support so-called non-governmental organisations – namely environmental protection organisations that oppose fracking gas – to maintain dependence on importing Russian gas.”
Oil and gas production provides Russia with an estimated 40 per cent of its revenue. And, historically, a rise in oil prices has correlated with Russian aggression against its neighbours. The rationale seems to be that high oil prices enable Russia not only to withstand the impact of sanctions, but also to fund its tanks and missiles. In 2020, the Wilfred Martens Centre for European Studies, a centre-right think tank headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, released a report documenting that the Russian government had transferred at least €82 million to various climate protection organisations that were working to block European natural gas production.
On French television, political scientist Dominique Reynie also reported that Russian state-owned gas corporation Gazprom had funded various environmental NGOs that had advocated for the abandonment of nuclear power. Less nuclear power and gas production inside Europe means increased dependency on Russian gas.
Writing in German publication Ruhrbarone, former military officer and Christian Democrat member of Germany’s parliament, Roderich Kiesewetter, has argued that this funding of NGOs represents just one component of Putin’s long-term strategy. “From a security policy perspective, it can be seen very clearly that Putin planned the war of aggression that is now taking place for years, and that it was well orchestrated at the beginning.”
Kiesewetter continues: “Putin has been waging a hybrid war in Europe for many years, which, in addition to cyber attacks and targeted disinformation, also envisages the strategic weakening and division of Europe. That is, by deliberately promoting the energy dependency of Germany and other European states on Russia, he thereby weakened the EU in the area of hard and smart power capabilities and strengthened his own.”
The “hybrid warfare” described by Kiesewetter not only includes the corruption of NGOs, but also high-profile lobbyists. In Germany, former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Social Democrat Party has now become a pariah because of his long-term relationship with Putin and Russian state interests. In February, when Putin invaded Ukraine, Schroeder was appointed to the board of Gazprom.
It is only now, with the benefit of hindsight, that Western leaders are starting to realise just how much Putin had been toying with them. German leaders, in particular, are facing the stark realisation that their failed green energy policies have not only driven up the cost of living at home, but have also funded Putin’s war machine. Bitter recriminations are flying in German newspapers, with journalists blaming leaders for bloodshed in Ukraine, and for blindly trusting Russia, even after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
On February 24, when Russian tanks rolled into Ukrainian territory, the world changed forever. But Putin had begun his war many years before. While Europe is in shock and must reckon with its past policy failures, Australia should watch closely. We must ensure that similar mistakes are not made in our region.
Claire Lehmann is founding editor of Quillette, a platform for free thought.
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