The Bavarian authorities have apprehended two individuals under the belief that they were working for Russia to plan disruptive acts aimed at weakening Germany’s military support to Ukraine. According to Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s office, the pair, known only as Dieter S and Alexander J, are being investigated for their alleged involvement in serious acts of espionage for a foreign intelligence service.
The duo is accused of scheming sabotage operations intended to destabilise Germany’s military aid extended to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, particularly through efforts of initiating explosive and arson offenses targeted mostly at German military infrastructure and industrial locations.
It is alleged that Dieter S was involved in reconnaissance for potential attack locations, encompassing facilities under the United States military in Germany. Images and footage of military sites he collected were reportedly forwarded to a Russian handler. Dieter S is facing charges of association with a foreign terrorist organisation from 2014 to 2016, allegedly a combat unit called the “People’s Republic of Donetsk” stationed in eastern Ukraine.
While Dieter S was arrested on a Wednesday, Alexander J, a German-Russian national who reportedly joined the plot recently, was apprehended on the same day. Alexander J was due for court proceedings on a Thursday morning, following Dieter S’s arrest and court appearance on Wednesday.
Germany and the rest of Europe have seen an increasing frequency of cases suspected to involve Russian espionage. In one instance in November 2022, a reserve officer from the German military received a suspended sentence for disseminating information to Russian intelligence. At present, there is an ongoing trial in Berlin of a former German intelligence operative, accused of providing Russia with insider information about Russian mercenary activities in Ukraine.
A series of espionage cases involving Russians have also occurred in Poland, including the arrest and charge of 16 individuals in the past year. In December, 14 foreign individuals were sentenced to between one to six years imprisonment for illicitly surveying military conveyances to Ukraine, in an attempt to hinder a train carrying military supplies.
These operatives managed to install a minimum of six cameras in different locations, which could be remotely controlled through mobile applications. Locations included an airport, the Baltic Sea’s Gdynia naval port, and the train station in Rzeszow, a border town and prime aid hub for Ukraine. A majority of this group were Ukrainians, along with two Belarusian students and a previous professional Russian ice hockey player from Poland.
Drawing upon evidence from the breach of a Telegram group chat, lawyers introduced to court the crypto transactions, enacted by the accused’s facilitator: a fee of $5 in exchange for distributing anti-Ukrainian pamphlets, $300-400 for setting up a camera, and a substantial amount of $10,000 for planning a train derailment.
In the previous month, Austrian enforcement officers apprehended an ex-intelligence official on charges of espionage involving Russian ostracised agents and dissenters dating back to 2017. Austrian detectives claim that during his tenure in the local intelligence community, the man had established connections with the absconding ex-manager of Wirecard, Mr Jan Marsalek. Wirecard, with its dishonest financial activities exposed, went into insolvency in June 2020 leading to Marsalek disappearing. Since 2014, he has been accused of acting as an agent for Russia and is currently one of the most pursued individuals in Europe.