Police vehicles leave the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe, Germany, 18 April 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE/RONALD WITTEK
German police detained two suspected Russian intelligence agents in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth on Wednesday, Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor General said in a statement on Thursday.
The men, described under strict German privacy laws only as 39-year-old Dieter S. and 37-year-old Alexander J., are suspected of preparing attacks on military targets on behalf of foreign intelligence agencies; sabotaging military security; and conspiracy to commit arson.
Investigators allege that Dieter S. has been in contact with a Russian intelligence operative since 2023 and had suggested military facilities to sabotage across Germany, even declaring his readiness to use fire or explosives against military facilities and industrial complexes to disrupt the supply of military aid to Ukraine.
Dieter S. allegedly collected information about possible targets, taking photos and videos of locations which he then supposedly passed on to his Russian handler. During his arrest, a firearm was found in his possession.
According to German news outlet Der Spiegel, Dieter S. tracked transport routes used to deliver military equipment and monitored a large military training ground in the Bavarian town of Grafenwöhr, where the US military trains Ukrainians to operate tanks.
The prosecutor’s office stated that Dieter S. had fought in Ukraine as part of the army of the pro-Russian “Donetsk People’s Republic” between 2014 and 2016.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has summoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechaev following the two suspects’ arrest, German newspaper BILD reported.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said: “Our security agencies prevented possible attacks that could have targeted our military assistance to Ukraine. We will continue to support Ukraine and will not allow ourselves to be intimidated.”
