exclusive
Russia has apparently in the coup plans of the alleged conspirators to Henry XIII. played an important role. After MDRresearch, the hope for help was nurtured through contacts with Russian government agencies.
It was four printed pages that attracted the attention of investigators from the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Saxon police when they searched Frank R.’s living and business premises in Olbernhau in the Ore Mountains during the major raid last year.
The federal prosecutor accused R. of the “Reichsbürger” group around Heinrich XIII. to have supported Prince Reuss. He is one of two dozen suspects arrested on December 7, 2022.
These four pages contain an e-mail exchange between Frank R., Christian W., who was also arrested, the suspect Udo M. and the Russian Consulate General in Leipzig. According to research by MDR This exchange of messages began on November 28, 2022, when the secret investigations against Reuss and his group were already in full swing. W. and R. were also targeted by the terrorist investigators when they sent the email to the Consulate General via Frank R.’s company address that day.
Appointment with Russian diplomat
In the email, they were clearly pro-Russian. They are a group of medium-sized entrepreneurs who consider the German media’s reporting on the Ukraine war to be one-sided, which is a shame for the Russian Federation. According to the e-mail, they wanted to tell the Russian government about this and therefore presented themselves at a personal meeting at the consulate general in Leipzig.
The Consulate General did not seem to dismiss the desire for a meeting between the three Olbernhauers as pointless nonsense. On the contrary: Just two days later, a high-ranking diplomat wrote to the alleged Reuss group members. He suggested a short-term face-to-face meeting at the Leipzig consulate on December 8th.
But that didn’t happen anymore. Terror investigators struck on December 7th. So what exactly did the men want in Leipzig? Why did three unknown Saxon businessmen get a short-term personal appointment at an official Russian diplomatic mission because of an email full of empty phrases?
The MDR asked the men’s lawyers for comment. Some declined, others did not respond to the request. The Russian consulate general in Leipzig did not respond to a corresponding one either MDR-Inquiry.
The consulate is said to appear several times in the investigations of the federal prosecutor’s office. The head of the alleged conspirators, Heinrich XIII, is said to have been in Leipzig with his alleged Russian partner Vitalia B. She, in turn, is said to have visited the consulate several times.
The role played by B., who was arrested in the raid on the Reußen Castle in Bad Lobenstein, has apparently not been clarified. She is accused of supporting a terrorist group.
Russian agent or just art historian?
Vitalia B., long dark hair, pale complexion, pointed nose, narrow face, concentrated gaze. On photos dem MDR available, she looks like a manager of a commercial enterprise in a light blouse and dark blazer.
In numerous media publications she is referred to as Reuss’s “partner” or “assistant”. What actually happens is unclear. Her lawyer refuses to answer questions.
After MDRresearch, Vitalia B., born in Kaliningrad in 1983, traveled to Germany for the first time on October 1, 2002. Until her arrest in Bad Lobenstein, where she is said to have last been looking for an apartment, she was registered in Heidelberg. She studied art history there. Between 2012 and 2019 she wrote her doctoral thesis at the University of Heidelberg.
During her graduation ceremony and doctorate award ceremony in 2019, she is said to have announced that she wanted to return to Russia. Her arrest in Thuringia in December also shows that this was obviously not true.
What role does Vitalia B. play in the case? Is she a Russian agent and was she assigned to the group? If so, with what goal? Or is she a well-off art historian with an affinity for aristocracy and slipped into history through no fault of her own? Neither your defense attorney, in consultation with Vitalia B., nor the federal prosecutor wanted to answer questions about this.
Innocent in prison?
But an incident that is said to have taken place shortly after B’s arrest in custody makes you sit up and take notice. After MDRinformation she is said to have claimed during a medical examination to staff at the correctional facility that she is not who she is believed to be. Rather, her name is “Maria Romanov”.
As an innocent person, she is wrongly imprisoned. One of their former contacts in Heidelberg confirmed this MDR However, the woman in the photo with the dark hair, the narrow face and the concentrated gaze called herself Vitalia B. throughout her studies.
Hope for Russian help disappointed
Russia and also possible contacts to Russian government agencies were apparently a central strategic component of the Reuss group. There is repeated talk of an “alliance” in which the alleged putschists expected help from Moscow.
Apparently, she hoped, there could be a signal from there that a violent uprising and a destabilization of the Federal Republic were in favor. At least that’s what the leaders of the group seem to have told their members over and over again.
But the signal didn’t seem to come, which led to frustration. At a meeting in a hotel just five kilometers from the East Thuringian Castle of Heinrich XIII. removed, it should have come to a dispute. On September 17, 2022, three months before the group was blown up, some of the Reuss group, especially those of the military arm, met. One wanted to know from the leaders what the situation was with Russian support.
Investigators who monitored these meetings note that there appeared to be no satisfactory response and an argument began. Apparently, the suspected conspirators had placed too much trust in Moscow’s help.