Russian saboteurs, preparing attacks on military aid delivery routes to Ukraine, arrested in Germany
Police in Bayreuth, Bavaria, have arrested two suspected spies who, on behalf of Russia, monitored U.S. bases and planned attacks on military infrastructure and routes for the delivery of military aid to Ukraine.
The German edition of Spiegel said about this on Thursday, citing sources in investigative circles.
The arrest by order of the German Prosecutor General Jens Rommel was carried out on April 17 by special forces of the police, and the apartments of the detainees were searched.
According to the ezine, the main suspect is Dieter S., a 39-year-old German and Russian citizen living in Bavaria. The Federal Prosecutor's Office accuses him, among other things, of agency activities on behalf of special services, agency activities for the purpose of sabotage, as well as of taking pictures of military facilities "posing a security threat."
In addition, Dieter S. studied and photographed U.S. military installations in Germany. He sent the pictures to his Russian customers. In this, Dieter S., according to the prosecutor's office, since March 2024, the second suspect detained in Bayreuth, 37-year-old Alexander J., helped. According to Der Spiegel, the men collected information, in particular, about U.S. military facilities at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, where the Ukrainian military is taught to operate Abrams tanks.
According to German intelligence services, Dieter S. supported a group of pro-Russian separatists in the so-called "DPR" in the period from 2014 to 2016.
At the same time, the German ARD TV channel reports that in this regard, the German Prosecutor General's Office has filed charges against him for membership in a foreign terrorist association. "This is an innovation, because in this way the Donetsk People's Republic becomes a terrorist association. German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann has issued a permit for the relevant prosecution, the TV channel notes. "This step has great symbolic significance and may have diplomatic consequences," ARD notes.
Since Dieter S. apparently had a firearm, he is also suspected of "preparing a violent act that poses a threat to the state."
According to ARD, both suspects face up to 10 years in prison in Germany.
