Germany Helped Prep Russia for War, U.S. Sources Say - The Daily Beast Tuesday April 22 nd , 2014 at 8:18 AM 1 Share David Mdzinarishvili/Reuter The world was shocked when Russian special operations forces invaded Crimea with advanced technology, drastically improved operations, and with so much operational security that even agencies in the U.S. intelligence community didn’t see it coming . In Washington, government and congressional leaders are wondering how the Russian special operations forces got so good, so fast, without anyone noticing. Some are wondering how much help Russia had from the West. In 2011, for example, the German defense contractor Rheimetall signed a $140 million contract to build a combat simulation training center in Mulino, in southwest Russia, that would train 30,000 Russian combat troops per year. While the facility wasn't officially scheduled to be completed until later this year, U.S. of...