German covert operations: Two individuals detained over alleged Russian sabotage scheme

German covert operations: Two individuals detained over alleged Russian sabotage scheme

In the southern German state of Bavaria, two purported spies have been detained on suspicion of plotting to undermine German military assistance for Ukraine.

Prosecutors claim that the two men, who are dual citizens of Germany and Russia, were arrested in Bayreuth on suspicion of espionage for Russia.

According to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, there have been no "possible explosive attacks" aroused.

According to accusations, the guys scouted additional locations, including US military installations.

Dieter S, the primary suspect, has been placed under remand in pre-trial custody on charges of many offenses, including arranging an explosion, setting fire to property, and keeping in touch with Russian intelligence.

He also allegedly served in the occupied eastern Ukraine from 2014 to 2016 as a soldier for a Russian proxy army.

Since last month, the second suspect—Alexander J.—is said to have assisted him in locating possible targets for an assault. Thursday was his scheduled court appearance.

The Berlin Foreign Ministry has called in the Russian ambassador. Ms. Faeser denounced "a particularly serious case of alleged spy activity for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's criminal regime" .

After the United States, Germany is the second-largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine, having committed around €28 billion (£24 billion) since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Prosecutors claim that Dieter S has been discussing possible sabotage activities in Germany with his Russian source since October of last year in an effort to weaken Russia's backing for Ukraine.

They mention planning arson and explosive assaults, particularly against industrial and military targets. According to reports, Dieter S inspected possible targets, such as US military installations, capturing pictures and films and giving the information to the Russian contact.

The Spiegel website claims that there was eavesdropping on a US Army base in Grafenwöhr, Bavaria. Before sending the tanks to the front lines in Ukraine, the US transported dozens of Abrams combat tanks to Bavaria last year so that Ukrainian forces could train on them at Grafenwöhr and another camp in Hohenfels.

This case reminds officials of a wave of arrests that occurred in Poland a year ago, when they said they had taken down a Russian espionage network that was planning sabotage strikes to stop Ukraine's military supplies from flowing.

The two arrests were "another significant investigative success" in the war against Russian sabotage and espionage networks, according to German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, who spoke with German news agency DPA.

Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said on Thursday that he was in Kyiv "at a time whenever Ukraine needed all the support it can get in its fight for freedom." Habeck is now visiting the city without warning.

Leading the initiative to support Ukraine's air defenses is the Berlin government.

Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, said on Wednesday that the European Union need to make an effort to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems, particularly Patriot systems. Ukraine has already received two Patriot air defense systems from Germany, and a third is on the way.

The two arrests in Bavaria come after a number of other well-known German espionage incidents.

A German citizen suspected of providing information to Russian officials in Bonn and Berlin last summer was detained in the western city of Koblenz while employed for the military procurement agency.

A further story involves the possible flight of the former CEO of a bankrupt German payment processing business, Wirecard, to Moscow after the company's bankruptcy. It is now believed that Jan Marsalek was a Russian spy who enlisted Austrian authorities to provide critical information.