Because he is said to have provided information to a Russian secret service, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office has charged a German professional soldier with alleged secret service agent activity. The Karlsruhe authorities also accuse the man of violating official secrecy. She did not give any details. The State Security Senate of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court must now decide whether there will be a trial.
According to the report, the accused had worked as a professional soldier at the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Operations of the Bundeswehr (BAAINBw). The facility, based in Koblenz, is responsible for equipping the Bundeswehr with materials and weapons as well as the development, testing and procurement of military technology. From May 2023, the man is said to have offered cooperation – on his own initiative – to the Russian Consulate General in Bonn and the Russian Embassy in Berlin several times. “On one occasion he transmitted information that he had obtained in the course of his professional activities for the purpose of forwarding it to a Russian intelligence service,” it said.
Officials from the Federal Criminal Police Office arrested the accused in Koblenz on August 9th. He has been in custody ever since. At that time, emergency services also searched the accused’s apartment and workplace. The investigation was conducted in close cooperation with the Federal Office for the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, as the Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced at the time.
It is not the first case of suspected espionage for Russia since the start of Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine. In Berlin, a former employee of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is being tried before the Chamber Court. This is about suspicion of treason. Carsten L. is said to have passed on secret information to a Russian intelligence service. The content is said to be a state secret within the meaning of the Criminal Code.
The German security authorities have stepped up efforts to combat espionage by Russian services. In response to the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, European states also expelled Russian agents.