Germany: Ukrainian suspected of spying for Moscow arrested

German justice announced Thursday, October 22, the arrest of a Ukrainian national suspected of having collected “information of military interest” on behalf of Russia.

Referred to as Vadym Y., he “was in contact, through a third party, with a Russian intelligence service,” the German prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Military information transmitted to Moscow

This included “information on the production of armored vehicles, ammunition and explosives, as well as on military personnel and installations located on sites intended to secure the eastern flank of NATO,” detailed this source. Among the information transmitted, some was freely accessible. Others came from people from the European arms sector whom the suspect “targeted and solicited”, according to the press release.

The alleged agent was arrested in Brandenburg, near Berlin, and will be presented to the investigating judge on Friday. These actions took place “in the context of the war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine,” explained the prosecution. Another Ukrainian was arrested this summer in Germany, suspected of having spied on an arms company in Bavaria for sabotage purposes on behalf of a foreign intelligence service.

A “shadow war”

Germany is on alert in the face of an increase in these destabilization, sabotage and espionage operations on its territory, most of which are attributed to Russia. Berlin has actively supported kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022 and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz campaigned last week in favor of increasing European funding for Ukraine in his 2027 budget.