Ukrainian convicted of espionage in Germany gets prison as 2 others are acquitted

A Ukrainian national was convicted in Germany on Tuesday of espionage charges for allegedly sending packages containing GPS trackers to Ukraine via the Ukrainian postal service in March 2025, according to Germany's AP news agency. The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court sentenced the man to a year and three months in prison, stating that he must have known the packages could be used for spying and sabotage purposes.

Three Ukrainians were initially accused of being part of a sabotage plot targeting Russian intelligence service's transport routes, but two others were acquitted by the court. The convicted man allegedly arranged for the shipment of two packages with GPS transmitters in Germany and was aware that they could have been used for spying, the judge said.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office claims the order to carry out the alleged spying came from a Russian government agency and was issued via intermediaries from Mariupol, Ukraine, with the intention of gathering information on the parcel delivery service's routes and procedures. Investigators also claim the next step for the defendants would have been to send packages containing incendiary devices to cause damage to Ukraine and undermine the population's sense of security.