A man has been arrested in Berlin on suspicion of spying for Russia, German prosecutors said on Wednesday, the latest alleged Moscow-linked espionage plot uncovered in the country.
Prosecutors said the suspect gave his Russian intelligence handler information about German military aid for Ukraine and photos of NATO military convoys moving along motorways and also identified possible targets for sabotage.
Authorities in Germany, one of Kyiv’s key military backers, have uncovered scores of suspected espionage, sabotage and disinformation plots tied to Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The suspect in the latest case, reportedly a Kazakh national and partially identified as Sergej K., had been “in continuous contact from Germany with a Russian intelligence service” since at least May last year, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
He is also accused of passing information to Russian intelligence on German defence contractors developing drone and robotics technology and of supplying his handler with numerous photos of public buildings around Berlin, it said.
He volunteered to help find other possible sabotage and espionage agents in Germany, according to the statement, which did not specify if he had managed to recruit any.
Police arrested the man on Tuesday and prosecutors said he would be brought before a judge on Wednesday.
Moscow has repeatedly denied being behind any such plots.
At the weekend, Berlin blamed Moscow for repeated phishing attacks targeting lawmakers and senior administration officials using the Signal messaging app.
German police have also arrested a number of alleged so-called “disposable” agents, recruited to carry out sabotage and espionage without any formal training for Russia, often in exchange for small payments.
Additional sources • AFP