The two German-Russians have been charged before the Federal Court of Justice on suspicion of espionage. But how did the BKA even become aware of them?
Bayreuth – Two men who are suspected of operating and spying for the Russian secret service were arrested in Bayreuth, Upper Franconia, on Wednesday morning. The aim of the two German-Russians is said to have been explosives and arson attacks on US military bases in Germany, reports
Spiegel.
They may have acted on the direct orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
With the attacks, the suspects apparently wanted to sabotage Germany's support for Ukraine, it said. The men had already scouted out potential attack targets. According to
the
Spiegel
report, one of the spied objects was a US Army facility in Grafenwöhr, Upper Franconia, near Bayreuth. There is, among other things, an important military training area where the US Army trains Ukrainian soldiers - for example in how to use Abrams battle tanks.
Bayreuth in Bavaria: The BKA's mobile task force arrested the two espionage suspects
The two espionage suspects were arrested by employees of a Mobile Task Force (MEK) of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), a special unit of the German police. MEK forces had previously examined the suspects' apartments. The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and a dozen other officers were also involved in the arrest of the two men. Five police service dogs were also on site, including two explosives detection dogs.
The main suspect in the Karlsruhe federal public prosecutor's office is the 39-year-old German-Russian Dieter S. from Bavaria. He is accused, among other things, of acting as a secret service agent, acting as an agent for sabotage purposes and “depicting” military facilities in a way that endangers security. As investigators explained, Dieter S. is said to have been communicating with Russian secret service contacts about sabotage operations in Germany since October 2023.
Espionage for Russia: The suspects probably wanted to carry out explosives and arson attacks
According to Spiegel
, this was
primarily about traffic routes on which military goods are transported. Dieter S. had declared to Russian secret services that he was prepared to “commit explosives and arson attacks, especially on military infrastructure and industrial sites in Germany,” said the statement from the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe.
The second person arrested, 37-year-old Alexander J., helped Dieter S. with his planning for attacks on military transport routes in Germany from March 2024 at the latest. Both suspects exchanged information about the attack targets, Karlsruhe said. The two suspects now face a prison sentence of up to ten years.
The main suspect was already a member of a pro-Russian group in eastern Ukraine
Dieter S. was brought before the responsible Federal Attorney General at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe on Wednesday, reports
Bayerische Rundfunk
(BR). The responsible investigating judge then ordered the execution of pre-trial detention, it was said
from Karlsruhe.
In addition, the judge at the Federal Court of Justice reportedly opened another arrest warrant against Dieter S, which concerns the accusation of membership in a foreign terrorist organization, as the Federal Prosecutor's Office announced on Thursday afternoon in a post on the short message service X (formerly Twitter). According to
BR
, Alexander J. will also
be brought before the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe on Thursday.
According to information from Spiegel,
the defendant Dieter 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.
Arrest in Bayreuth: More spies “for sure,” according to investigative circles
The fact that in this case both defendants are accused of a number of different offenses means that there are likely to be interesting proceedings, writes the
Tagesschau.
They are likely to discuss Russian secret service practices that experts and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution have been warning about for a long time: such as spying on critical infrastructure, sabotage of supply routes or attacks on military deliveries to Ukraine.
In addition, the two suspects in custody are “certainly” not the only possible spies, the
Tagesschau
also reports. The news portal relies on information from investigative circles. In mid-March (March 14, 2024), a suspected Russian espionage case also became known in Austria. The two suspects, two Russian diplomats, were subsequently expelled.
(fh)