1 month ago
By GEIR MOULSON
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year]
BERLIN (AP) — Two German-Russian men person been arrested successful Germany connected suspicion of espionage, 1 of them accused of agreeing to transportation retired attacks connected imaginable targets including U.S. subject accommodation successful hopes of sabotaging assistance for Ukraine, prosecutors said Thursday.
The two, identified only arsenic Dieter S. and Alexander J. successful statement pinch German privateness rules, were arrested Wednesday successful nan Bavarian metropolis of Bayreuth, national prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege Dieter S. had been discussing imaginable acts of sabotage successful Germany pinch a personification linked to Russian intelligence since October, and that nan main purpose was to undermine subject support fixed by Germany to Ukraine.
The fishy declared himself consenting to transportation retired bombing and arson attacks connected infrastructure utilized by nan subject and business sites successful Germany, prosecutors said successful a statement. They added that he gathered accusation connected imaginable targets, including U.S. subject facilities.
Alexander J. allegedly helped him to do truthful starting successful March astatine nan latest, while Dieter S. scouted retired immoderate of nan sites, took photos and videos of subject equipment and passed nan accusation to his intelligence contact.
A judge connected Wednesday ordered Dieter S. kept successful custody pending a imaginable indictment, and Alexander J. was ordered held connected Thursday.
Dieter S. besides faces abstracted accusations of belonging to an equipped portion of pro-Russian separatist forces successful nan Donetsk region of eastbound Ukraine betwixt December 2014 and September 2016.
Germany has go nan second-biggest supplier of weapons to Ukraine aft nan United States since Russia started its full-scale penetration of Ukraine much than 2 years ago. The U.S. has a ample subject beingness successful Germany, including successful Bavaria.
Prosecutors did not sanction immoderate circumstantial locations successful nan suspects’ sights. German news agency dpa and mag Der Spiegel reported, without citing sources, that nan locations allegedly snooped connected see nan U.S. Grafenwoehr subject base.
Germany’s apical information official, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, said Russia’s ambassador was summoned to nan Foreign Ministry successful Berlin.
She vowed that Germany will proceed to thwart immoderate specified Russian threats. “We will proceed to springiness Ukraine monolithic support and will not fto ourselves beryllium intimidated,” she said.
Faeser wouldn’t remark connected specifications of nan investigation. She said that Germany has accrued its information measures since Russia sent its troops into Ukraine successful 2022 and will support evaluating them.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he couldn’t remark connected nan reported arrests, saying that he doesn’t person “any accusation connected this matter.”
European officials person precocious warned of Russia-linked interference networks trying to undermine European support for Ukraine successful its warfare against Russia.
