Beware of Tinder dates spying for Putin, German tourists in Russia warned
The German foreign ministry has warned tourists going to Russia to beware of Tinder honey-traps spying for Vladimir Putin.
“Be careful on Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and co: there can be bad motives hidden behind new contacts,” he said in a warning following embarrassing spy leaks to Russia.
“Russia is not the best destination at the moment for a first date with your online flirt,” the ministry added.
In Germany’s biggest spy scandal in decades, confidential discussions about Taurus cruise missiles and British troops “on the ground” in Ukraine were recorded by Russian intelligence and leaked on social media.
“Russia has not just been spying massively on Germany for years. Germany is at the centre of a Russian influence operation. Russia attempts to illegitimately influence politics, the economy and society on a number of levels,” wrote Konstantin von Notz, chairman of the German parliamentary control board, a committee which oversees the country’s intelligence services, in mid-March.
On Friday, it was revealed that senior figures at the hard-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party had reportedly received tens of thousands of euros each via the pro-Russian news website Voice of Europe.
Czechia has sanctioned the website as a Russian influence operation aimed at destabilising Europe with far-Right propaganda.
Raids have also have been carried across multiple European countries in relation to the website, with Poland searching houses and confiscating almost €90,000 (£769,000) in cash.
Alexander De Croo, the Belgian prime minister, claimed that Russia had approached MEPs and paid them money through Voice of Europe.
The two German MPs suspected of having been paid directly are Maximilian Krah and Petr Bystron, who top the AfD’s list of candidates for the forthcoming European elections in summer 2024, effectively guaranteeing them jobs in Brussels, German tabloid Bild reports. The money is believed to have come through pro-Putin oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk.
The German interior minister reacted by accusing the AfD of being “part of the Russian propaganda apparatus”.
