Moscow is Actively Recruiting Russians Abroad to Serve as ‘Fifth Column’ against Countries Where They Live, Lea and Taskin Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 19 – Russian operatives are actively recruiting members of Russian communities abroad to provide intelligence now and to serve as “a fifth column” in a future war between Moscow and the West, a development and a threat that Western countries have not wanted to address, Aaron Lea and Borukh Taskin say.

            The two Israeli analysts of Russian background acknowledge that they don’t have precise data on how large this effort is but say that recent exposes in Germany show that it is ongoing and warn that it will expand if Western governments don’t change their approach (kasparovru.com/material.php?id=6AAE6C5F180ED&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook).

            Western governments are loathe to treat any diaspora as collectively responsible for such actionitss given that to do so is to violate some of the most basic principles of their regimes. Moscow is exploiting this; and that should force these governments to face up to the threat and work to counter the problem.

            Given what has come out in German courtrooms in recent weeks, there is little doubt that the phenomenon Lea and Taskin  are pointing to is a very real one; but there is an aspect of this situation that they do not address but undoubtedly is part of the calculations of Russian officials in Moscow.

            That is this; Most governments make plans only for their operations to succeed; but the Russian government has a long history, going back at least to the 1920s, of planning for failure in such a way that the failures will give the Kremlin benefits even if its main goal is not achieved in that particular case.

            Thus, it is entirely possible that Moscow is not entirely unhappy that some of its actions with the Russian diaspora in Germany are being exposed. Such coverage will undermine unity in Germany and thus make it easier for Moscow to divide Germans and thus weaken them in advance of any future Russian action.

            For background on such Russian calculations, especially with respect to diasporas and minorities,  see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/12/just-like-century-ago-moscows.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/09/emigre-anti-putin-opposition-at-risk-of.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/07/moscow-using-operation-trust-style.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/01/putins-active-measures-achieve-second.html.