A man suspected of spying for Russia since May 2025 "at the latest" has been detained in Berlin, German prosecutors said on Wednesday, reported dpa.
The Kazakh man was in contact with the Russian secret services, the federal prosecutors said.
The man passed on details about Germany's military support for Ukraine and about the German arms and defence industry, according to the authorities. The information is said to have focused in particular on companies developing drones and robots.
The suspect is also alleged to have repeatedly forwarded photos of public buildings in Berlin and of military convoys on motorways, including a "convoy of a NATO state."
He is also said to have informed his contact at the Russian intelligence service about suitable sabotage targets in Germany and offered to recruit people for a sabotage and espionage unit.
The suspect was arrested on Tuesday and was set to be brought before a Federal Court of Justice judge on Wednesday for a decision on whether he is to be held in pre-trial detention.
It was unclear whether the suspect had been paid for his services but security sources suggest he had likely offered his services out of conviction.
Berlin concerned about Russian espionage
The German Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has been concerned about Russian espionage for some time, with several suspected agents arrested since the start of the year alone.
In January, a German-Ukrainian woman was detained for allegedly spying for a Russian intelligence service, gathering information on participants at high-profile political events, inquiring about arms industry locations and planned supplies of drones to Ukraine. She is said to have approached former Defence Ministry employees who she knew personally.
Then, in March, two men suspected of spying for Russia were detained in Rheine, North Rhine-Westphalia, and in Elda, Spain, suspected of spying on a man delivering drones from Germany to Ukraine. Investigators say they sought to prepare “further intelligence operations against the target”.
Shortly afterwards, a man was arrested in Hagen, Germany, alleged to have spied for Russia on a former fighter in the Ukrainian armed forces in Germany.
Significant increase in Russian hybrid attacks
German prosecutors are still investigating a phishing campaign targeting politicians, military figures and journalists through the Signal messaging service, that began in February. Berlin suspects Russia is behind the operation though the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has not yet commented on a possible client.
Meanwhile, law enforcement authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia are currently investigating a Lithuanian national after an unauthorized camera was spotted at Minden train station.
Suspected agents caught during vehicle check
Police in Bavaria may also have detained suspected agents coincidentally, during a routine check on a motorway earlier this month. The two men, a 45-year-old Latvian and a 43-year-old Ukrainian, are now being held in pre-trial detention after forged identity documents, cameras, a drone, GPS trackers, radio equipment and several phones plus SIM cards were found in their vehicle.
Germany's national security service has now published a guide to sensitize the public and enable people to spot and counter hybrid threats, meaning military, economic, intelligence and propaganda measures which could steer public opinion.
That comes as intelligence services fear several states are targeting Germany with hybrid campaigns. Such activities have increased significantly since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with ever greater scale and professionalism.
- Man held
- spying for Russia
- Berlin
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
