RUSSIA: Undercover Spies in Germany for 23 Years

Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag lived inconspicuously for 23 years, blending seamlessly into the community as an ordinary family. They appeared to lead a typical life, raising a daughter, giving no reason for anyone to suspect anything sinister. However, beneath this facade, they were trained Russian agents operating undercover as part of Russia's Illegals program.

In this blog post, we will take a deep dive into who the Anschlags really were and explore why they were spying in Germany for so long.

Heidrun and Andreas Anschlag at their trial in Stuttgart

EARLY YEARS

The Anschlags were recruited by the KGB in the 1980s, when they were in their early twenties and full of vigor for their homeland. Little is known about the specifics of their recruitment, but it is suspected that the couple was already together at the time their work with the KGB began, although this has not been confirmed.

The KGB provided them with falsified documents, enabling them to operate undercover in West Germany. They assumed identities as South Americans, though the documents were actually created in Austria. The story behind how they obtained these documents is fascinating.

In the late 1980s, a diplomat from the Russian embassy in Austria visited a small town near the Hungarian border, a place he frequently traveled to maintain a Soviet war memorial. The diplomat had befriended a local government official, and during one of their conversations, he mentioned needing citizenship documents for his "friend" Heidrun. He claimed that Heidrun's mother was Austrian, but had moved to Peru, where she married an American.

The diplomat presented Heidrun’s birth certificate, which showed she was born in Lima, Peru, on December 4th, 1965, along with another document indicating that her mother held Austrian citizenship. Since the paperwork appeared to be in order, the official had no reason to doubt its authenticity. He forwarded the documents to Vienna for processing and provided the diplomat with the necessary identity papers. Thus, the official identity of Heidrun Anschlag was created.

Lima, Peru, was chosen as her birthplace because the Soviets, and later the Russian government, found it relatively easy to steal South American identities. In many parts of the world, including Africa and South America, birth and death records are not always connected. This allowed the KGB, and later the FSB and SVR, to exploit unrecorded deaths by stealing the identities of deceased children.

Andreas Anschlag's identity was fabricated in a similar manner. The KGB enlisted the help of Adolf Slavik, a well-known spy who was retired by 1988. The KGB asked him to undertake one final task: to visit a small town in Austria, Wildalpen, and befriend a local municipal worker. Slavik requested identity papers for a "friend from Argentina," claiming the friend needed them to purchase a hotel in the town. Andreas' birth year was listed as 1959.

After they moved to Austria, the Anschlags' cover story was that they met there as single individuals with South American heritage, which led to their relationship and eventual marriage. There is some evidence suggesting that they were actually married before coming to Austria, making this their second wedding. After establishing their cover, they were sent to Germany and moved to Aachen, a city nestled between the border with Belgium and the Cologne.

In Aachen, Andreas enrolled at university and studied to be an engineer. They lived like a normal student couple. In the first few years, they settled in Western Germany. Andreas went to work in an ordinary job, and Heidrun was a stay-at-home mother and wife. They had a daughter, in the early 1990s. This also helped further cement their normal, boring suburban family cover story. They made friends and joined organizations that dealt with foreign policies and politics. They rubbed shoulders with various important people. 

The Anschlags struck gold when they established contact with Dutch diplomat Raymon Valentino Poeteray. Despite not holding a particularly high rank, Poeteray had access to valuable NATO intelligence and other sensitive information. He provided them with crucial details about NATO members' plans and other classified material, making him an invaluable asset to their operations. 

Poeteray provided the Anschlags with documents containing sensitive information on EU positions, internal NATO discussions, and developments regarding Ukraine and Georgia's potential NATO membership. He also leaked various other classified details about NATO's advancements. The Anschlags acted as his handlers, meeting him regularly in the Netherlands to exchange information. In return, Poeteray was paid for his espionage.

Eventually, Poeteray was caught and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The presiding judge noted that Poeteray was fully aware he was working for the Russians. His motivations remain unclear, but it’s suspected that financial desperation played a significant role. Deep in debt and with a seriously ill wife, Poeteray struggled to get by on his €2,500 salary, which left him with just over €600 for daily expenses after deductions.

SPYING IN GERMANY

Between the time the Anschlags moved to Germany in the 1990s and their arrest in 2011, little is known about their specific activities. We do know that they led seemingly normal lives, balancing work and family, while covertly gathering information for their SVR handlers. However, aside from their interactions with Poeteray, the details of who else they contacted and what information they collected remain unclear.

The Anschlags employed several methods to communicate with their SVR handlers. They used the classic drop-off technique, where they would go for evening walks and discreetly leave parcels in designated locations. A Russian diplomat from Bonn would then retrieve the material during his own evening walk. Another method involved sending information through regular mail, sometimes to locations like Athens. They also used shortwave radio and a special receiver to transmit messages. To respond, they would use a specialized handset to connect to a Russian satellite. One particularly unusual method involved leaving messages and receiving replies under certain YouTube videos, specifically those featuring Cristiano Ronaldo. These videos, with thousands of comments daily, provided effective cover for their communications.

GETTING CAUGHT BY A WHISTLEBLOWER

The Anschlags were caught in October 2011 after several weeks of investigation. The information that led to their capture came from a foreign intelligence agency. It was later revealed that the CIA had tipped off the German authorities, based on intel provided by Aleksandr Poteyev, a Russian double agent. Poteyev had been stationed in the United States in the 1990s under diplomatic cover, during which time he was recruited by the CIA.

Poteyev held a fairly high rank within the SVR and was responsible for alerting the Americans about the illegal spy ring in 2010 that included Anna Chapman. When this information surfaced, Barack Obama was the President of the United States. He was cautious about how to proceed with arresting and deporting these spies, as the U.S. and Russia were working to improve relations and foster a more globalized world. Although Obama was initially hesitant to act, the situation eventually required government intervention. The arrests and public announcements were timed to coincide with the departure of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s plane from U.S. soil.

The German government spent only a few weeks surveilling the Anschlags. Several red flags had been raised, such as the fact that their Austrian citizenship documents led nowhere. Andreas Anschlag’s phone conversations with his wife were also suspicious, with odd exchanges that seemed like encrypted messages. Neighbors noticed peculiarities as well, such as Andreas's strong accent, which didn’t quite sound Germanic. He struggled to pronounce the letter "h," instead pronouncing it as "g," which is characteristic of Russian speakers. Additionally, Heidrun, despite claiming to have lived in Peru her whole life, did not speak fluent Spanish.

The couple was preparing to leave Germany, as the SVR suspected that their agents had been compromised. However, on the evening of October 16, police apprehended Andreas at his second apartment and confiscated the keys to their family home. In the early hours of the next morning, officers quietly approached the house in Michelbach. They caught Heidrun in the act of sending a radio transmission to Moscow. She was so startled by the intrusion that she fell out of her seat!

POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS AND THE AFTERMATH OF THE ARRESTS

When news of the Anschlags' arrest and activities became public, there was considerable uncertainty about how to handle their case. Initially, it was unclear whether they would face trial. The German government offered Vladimir Putin the opportunity to exchange the couple, but the Russians refused. This was disappointing for Germany, as they had individuals they hoped to bring back from Russia in exchange.

As a result, the case proceeded to trial, and both were convicted. Andreas received a sentence of six years and six months in prison, while Heidrun was sentenced to five and a half years. A court in Stuttgart found them guilty of foreign espionage on German soil. However, they did not serve their full sentences. In 2015 and 2016, they were released and deported back to Russia. In Germany, it is common for prisoners to receive early release for good behavior, and the Anschlags were exemplary inmates.

Diplomatically, the incident had little impact on relations between Germany and Russia. This contrasts sharply with the current situation, where relations between the two countries are strained, especially given Germany's position as Ukraine's second-largest arms supplier. While in prison, Heidrun spent her time making handicrafts and Christmas decorations.

Tragically, the Anschlags' daughter was caught in the middle of her parents' web of lies. It is unclear whether she knew their true identities and occupations before the authorities exposed them. She was actually at home when her parents were arrested, hiding in a closet in fear that the house was being invaded by burglars. Despite the circumstances, she was allowed to remain in Germany under the name Anschlag, and it is believed that she travels regularly to Russia to visit her exiled parents.

Her parents were deeply concerned that their daughter be allowed to stay in Germany, continue her studies, and live a normal life. At the time of their arrest, she was living with them in Michelbach, in the western German state of Hesse. The Anschlags had moved there in 2010. During this period, Andreas took a job 350 kilometers away and rented an apartment close to his workplace, which explained his long absences from home.

Their real identities were difficult to uncover, and even the authorities struggled to determine who they were for some time. Investigative journalists eventually discovered their true names while researching a podcast about the story. They traced some train tickets that the daughter had purchased for herself and three others, revealing that their real names are Olga and Aleksandr, and they now reside in Moscow.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the story of the Anschlags illustrates how Russian spies can be embedded in ordinary society, living seemingly normal lives while carrying out covert operations. The Russian Illegals Program, which became publicly known in the 1980s at the height of the Cold War, has continued to operate long after that era ended. 

Russia persists in deploying sleeper agents to spy on Western countries around the world. It is crucial for governments to remain vigilant, ensuring that critical infrastructure, sensitive information, and national security are protected from these covert threats.

Resources: 

• The Guardian -  Married pair alleged to be Russian 'cold war' type spies on trial in Germany
• BBC News - Russia spy couple jailed in Germany
• The Atlantic Council - Middle class German couple ‘spied for Russia for 20 years’
  
• Spiegel - Spies Strain German-Russian Ties
• Secrets and Spies - S8 Ep58 Russian Sleeper Spies in Germany, with Florian Flade 
  
• The Guardian - Dutch diplomat jailed for giving secret Nato documents to Russian agents