German security chief to be fired over alleged ties to Russia

• 

After reports surfaced about his ties to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Berlin is planning to sack Arne Schoenbohm, the head of its Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) national cyber security agency, according to government sources to AFP.

The interior ministry said it is "taking reports seriously" and "investigating them comprehensively". The report was published by a satire show on the ZDF broadcaster in an investigation. 

Read next: German foreign intelligence has been providing data to Ukraine

In 2012, Schoenbohm co-founded the Cyber Security Council of Germany, which provides consultation to German businesses, governmental agencies and policymakers on cybersecurity issues.

The organization now faces criticism for the head's contacts with Russian intelligence. 

According to the Handelsblatt daily, there was "great annoyance" among government issues over the accusations. 

The Cyber Security Council Germany denied the allegations and called them "absurd" in a website statement on Monday. 

Germany, formerly Russia's primary energy customer, has ramped up tensions with Moscow over the NATO-fueled war in Ukraine. This comes despite that Russian exports to Germany have increased by over 30% in 2022. 

Germany has been looking into an act of "sabotage" against its rail infrastructure - within this context, some German officials have blamed Russia, particularly after the Nord Stream pipeline explosions, despite all circumstantial evidence thus far pointing at the US as the culprit behind the sabotage.

On Saturday, important communication cables were cut, which pushed northern rail services to be put to a stop for three hours. This caused widespread chaos for thousands of passengers.  

Read more: German army warns of further potential attacks on infrastructure