“Department for special tasks”
This Russian unity is said to be behind attacks in Europe
16.02.2025 – 7:15 p.m.Reading time: 3 min.
A new Russian military secret service should be responsible for hybrid attacks in Western Europe. The department is apparently led by infamous agents.
Fire rates in aircraft, sabotage files, murder attacks: Russia’s military secret service GRU 2023 has apparently founded an independent department for its hidden operations in Western Europe, which bundles the skills of various secret services. This is reported by the “Wall Street Journal”, citing western and Russian security officers.
According to western intelligence experts, the SSD mainly has three tasks: murder attacks and sabotage files abroad, the infiltration of western companies and universities as well as the recruitment and training of agents in Ukraine, but also in Russia -friendly countries such as Serbia or developing countries outside of Europe. According to the report, the SSD also maintains its own training center for elite agents.
The management level of the SSD apparently consists of notorious agents of the GRU, which are not unknown to western secret services: According to the “Wall Street Journal”, the department is headed by Major General Andrej Awerjanow, the former vice chief of the Gru. Awerjanow, a veteran of Russia’s wars against the partial republic, is sought in the Czech Republic because of an attack on a ammunition camp in 2014, in which two people were killed.
Awerjanow is also said to have emerged in the Russian invasion of the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula 2014. For his commitment, Kremlin chief Putin gave him the title of a “hero of Russia”, the highest honor of the Russian state. Awerjanov’s deputy at the head of the SSD is also the notorious agent Moscow.
Lieutenant General Iwan Kasianenko is said to have coordinated the murder attack on the Skripals 2018. After the death of the Wagner founder Jewgeni Prigoschin in August 2023, Kasianenko is said to have taken over the operations of the mercenary force in African countries.
According to “Wall Street Journal”, Kasianenko, born in Kazakhstan in 1975, is also considered an important liaison officer between Moscow and Tehran. Iran delivers large amounts of Kamikazedrohnen and rockets to its allied Russia, and in return Moscow delivers military knowledge and technology. The Persian spokesman Kasianenko apparently organizes the transfer in a leading position.
The EU and the United States have apparently recently perceived the “Department of Special Tasks” as a threat. According to “Wall Street Journal”, the EU imposed sanctions against a non-precisely named unit of the GRU because of the organization of “state pranks, murder and explosive attacks as well as cyber attacks” in Europe and elsewhere. The US government also advertised rewards of ten million US dollars in December for references to agents of the SSD who are supposed to be responsible for cyber attacks in Ukraine.
