The largest dam in Ukraine was damaged by a Russian attack/Telegram
Two German citizens with Russian citizenship were arrested on suspicion of spying for Moscow and planning sabotage operations, including against American bases, in order to harm the continuation of military support in Ukraine.
The federal prosecution said today (Thursday) that the homes and workplaces of the two, who are accused of working for a foreign intelligence service, were searched.
According to the prosecution's statement, one of them, identified only as Dieter S., had since last October held talks about possible hostile actions with an entity connected to Russian intelligence. It is also claimed that he was prepared to carry out sabotage operations against military bases, including those of the United States Army, by explosives and arson.
The second suspect, identified as Alexander G, began assisting him at the latest last month, while Dieter toured several sites, took pictures and videos of military equipment and passed the information on to his contact. The two were arrested yesterday in the city of Bayreuth in Bavaria.
According to the newspaper Der Spiegel, among the targets was the Grafenwohr base in the south of Bavaria, where Ukrainian soldiers are training in American "Abrams" tanks.
"The actions are specifically aimed at undermining the military support that Germany provides to Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression," the German prosecutors said in a statement. Dieter fought in the ranks of pro-Russian rebel forces in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine from December 2014 to September 2016 and was in possession of a weapon.
After the United States, Germany is Ukraine's second largest arms supplier and is pressuring members of Congress in Washington to approve the large aid package for Kiev that has been stalled for months. On Saturday it will be voted on in the House of Representatives.
The Russian embassy in Berlin has not yet commented on the news of the arrest of the two. Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022, Germany has announced that it has uncovered a series of espionage plots and conspiracies by Moscow.
Last month, an officer in Germany's military procurement agency was accused of trying to pass classified information to Russian intelligence.