espionage
Suspected agents with ties to Russia arrested in Bavaria
The charges against those arrested: espionage for Russia, sabotage and preparing an explosive explosion
© Frisco Gentsch / DPA
Two men were arrested in Bayreuth on suspicion of spying for Russia. They are also accused of sabotage and preparing an explosive explosion.
Police arrested two men in Bavaria on Wednesday who are said to have spied for Russia. The two German-Russian nationals are strongly suspected of having worked for a foreign secret service in a particularly serious case, as the Federal Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice announced on Thursday.
One of the two, Dieter S., is also accused of conspiring to cause an explosive explosion and arson, as well as acting as an agent for sabotage purposes and depicting military installations that endanger the security. The investigators searched the couple’s place of residence and work. The “Spiegel” reported first.
Suspicion: contacts with Russia’s secret service
Specifically, Dieter S. is said to have been communicating with a person connected to a Russian secret service since at least October last year about possible sabotage operations in Germany. The actions were intended in particular to undermine the military support from Germany provided to Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression.
Against this background, Dieter S. is said to have declared to his interlocutor that he was prepared to carry out explosives and arson attacks, especially on infrastructure used by the military and industrial sites in Germany. According to the Federal Prosecutor General, Dieter S. collected information about potential attack targets, including facilities of the US armed forces. The second accused, Alexander J., helped him from March 2024 at the latest.
Dieter S. is said to have scouted and photographed some of the objects targeted on site, such as military transport.
An investigating judge ordered S. to be remanded in custody on Wednesday. J. should be brought before the investigating judge on Thursday.
Presumably active in the “Donetsk People’s Republic”.
According to the information, the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice also opened another arrest warrant against Dieter S., which concerns the accusation of membership in a foreign terrorist organization. S. is said to have worked in eastern Ukraine between December 2014 and September 2016 as a fighter in an armed unit of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”.
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, this self-proclaimed People’s Republic is a pro-Russian association that, from spring 2014, claimed control over the Ukrainian administrative district of Donetsk with the aim of secession from Ukraine and engaged in intensive clashes with the Ukrainian armed forces. The association repeatedly used violence against the civilian population.
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) told the German Press Agency: “We know that the Russian power apparatus is also focusing on our country.” Germany must respond to this threat defensively and decisively. With the arrest of the two men, the Federal Prosecutor General achieved “another significant investigative success” in the fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sabotage and espionage network.
Note: This article is continually updated.