Germany arrests Ukrainian man accused of spying for Russia

Military has raised the menace level of ​Russian sabotage against German troops and facilities.

A Ukrainian nationalist has been arrested successful Germany connected suspicion of spying for Russia, German authorities person said.

Germany’s national prosecutors confirmed successful a connection connected Thursday that the man, identified arsenic Vadym Y, was arrested successful the authorities of Brandenburg 85km (53 miles) westbound of Berlin.

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Prosecutors said the fishy had been successful interaction with the Russian concealed work via an intermediary since astatine slightest July 2025.

The fishy had gathered subject quality connected the accumulation of armoured vehicles, ammunition and explosives, arsenic good arsenic subject unit and defence installations astatine locations designed to unafraid NATO’s eastbound flank, prosecutors added.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is presently gathering with determination leaders successful Montenegro for the EU-Western Balkans Summit, said helium was “not surprised” by the quality of a suspected Russian spy.

The apprehension comes aft German authorities blamed Russia for drone attacks that officials said are portion of Moscow’s “shadow war” connected the country.

Germany’s equipped forces connected Wednesday raised the menace level of Russian sabotage against their troops and facilities to “significant” for the archetypal clip – the ‌second-highest level connected their interior menace scale, German quality reports noted.

The determination followed the find successful mid-September of a crashed drone carrying precocious explosives adjacent the Wunstorf ⁠airbase successful Lower Saxony, German quality sites WDR and Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.

The drone resembled different unmanned craft – besides laden with explosives – utilized successful a failed attack astatine Leipzig/Halle airdrome successful August. Unlike the Leipzig incident, which authorities said targeted civilian cargo aircraft, investigators judge the Wunstorf drone targeted subject aircraft, according to an interior subject papers seen by German media.

The study besides noted a signifier of suspected Russian reconnaissance crossed Germany, including drones flown implicit a rocket defence tract successful the authorities of Saxony-Anhalt, and a camouflaged camera recovered filming a strategically important railway presumption successful Minden, successful the authorities of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Martin Jaeger, caput of Germany’s BND spy service, told lawmakers this period that Russia’s undeclared “shadow war” against Germany and its allies was escalating further and has “taken connected a new, much unsafe character”.

“Germany is astatine hazard of being drawn into a convulsive struggle with Russia,” helium told an quality oversight committee astatine Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag.

Moscow denied engagement and has maintained it is not progressive successful sabotage oregon hybrid attacks connected European nations.