Russian intelligence agencies spied in Germany on the process of training Ukrainian military personnel to work with Western weapons systems, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported on Friday, August 26..

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According to counterintelligence, Russian agents conducted surveillance near the city of Idar-Oberstein in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as near the city of Grafenwohr in Bavaria, where the largest US military training ground in Europe with an area of \u200b\u200b200 square kilometers is located..

In Idar-Oberstein, Bundeswehr instructors taught Ukrainian colleagues how to use the Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000) self-propelled artillery mounts, and in Grafenwehr, US military personnel conducted classes on the use of American artillery systems.

Shortly after the start of the training process, MAD noticed suspicious vehicles, from which, apparently, the roads leading to both military installations were monitored. In addition, small unmanned aerial vehicles flew over the training centers several times, filming the training of Ukrainian soldiers..

The German intelligence services also have suspicions that Russian spies could try to gain access to the mobile phones of Ukrainians using special devices..

In late April, US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the United States had begun training Ukrainian soldiers on major weapons systems at US military installations in Germany.. It was about preparing for the use of howitzers, radar systems and armored vehicles supplied as part of military assistance to Ukraine..

In addition, on May 11, joint training of Ukrainian soldiers with the armed forces of the Netherlands began at the Bundeswehr artillery school in Idar-Oberstein.. The military was trained to work with PzH 2000. Germany and the Netherlands handed over 12 such systems to Kyiv.