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Are 2 in Germany Russian Spys 04/18 07:10
BERLIN (AP) -- Two German-Russian men have been arrested in Germany on
suspicion of espionage, one of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on
potential targets including U.S. military facilities in hopes of sabotaging aid
for Ukraine, prosecutors said Thursday.
The two, identified only as Dieter S. and Alexander J. in line with German
privacy rules, were arrested Wednesday in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth,
federal prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege Dieter S. had been discussing possible acts of sabotage
in Germany with a person linked to Russian intelligence since October, and that
the main aim was to undermine military support given by Germany to Ukraine.
The suspect declared himself willing to carry out bombing and arson attacks
on infrastructure used by the military and industrial sites in Germany,
prosecutors said in a statement. They added that he gathered information on
potential targets, including U.S. military facilities.
Alexander J. allegedly helped him to do so starting in March at the latest,
while Dieter S. scouted out some of the sites, took photos and videos of
military goods and passed the information to his intelligence contact.
A judge on Wednesday ordered Dieter S. kept in custody pending a possible
indictment, and Alexander J. was ordered held on Thursday.
Dieter S. also faces separate accusations of belonging to an armed unit of
pro-Russian separatist forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine between
December 2014 and September 2016.
Germany has become the second-biggest supplier of weapons to Ukraine after
the United States since Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more
than two years ago. The U.S. has a large military presence in Germany,
including in Bavaria.
Prosecutors did not name any specific locations in the suspects' sights.
German news agency dpa and magazine Der Spiegel reported, without citing
sources, that the locations allegedly snooped on include the U.S. Grafenwoehr
military base.
Germany's top security official, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, said
Russia's ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.
She vowed that Germany will continue to thwart any such Russian threats. "We
will continue to give Ukraine massive support and will not let ourselves be
intimidated," she said.
Faeser wouldn't comment on details of the investigation. She said that
Germany has increased its security measures since Russia sent its troops into
Ukraine in 2022 and will keep evaluating them.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he couldn't comment on the reported
arrests, saying that he doesn't have "any information on this matter."
European officials have recently warned of Russia-linked interference
networks trying to undermine European support for Ukraine in its war against
Russia.
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