Der Spiegel: The weapons cache found outside Berlin was left there by a 24-year-old Ukrainian man arrested in Romania

According to German magazine Der Spiegel, a weapons cache containing pistols and ammunition was discovered in a forest outside Berlin in August. The magazine reported that the cache was set up by a 24-year-old Ukrainian named Vadym S., who was part of a group preparing acts of sabotage in European countries on orders from Russian intelligence.

Polish authorities tracked S.'s movements and found that on October 1, 2025, he traveled from Poland to Berlin, picked up two packages, and placed them in the forest cache. Upon investigation, the packages were found to contain two pistols and ammunition. S. then returned to Poland and traveled to Romania, where he was arrested on October 16 after leaving two packages containing incendiary devices at a Ukrainian delivery company branch.

Another Ukrainian, 21-year-old Bohdan Filipchuk, was also detained. The arrests were confirmed by Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo, which also reported that the two Ukrainians were born in the Kherson region and moved to Poland in 2025. Romanian outlet Libertatea stated that Russian intelligence services oversaw the attempted firebombing of the Nova Poshta branch in Romania, with Shcherbakov receiving his assignments from his uncle.

German intelligence officials suggested the cache might have been intended for Russian agents carrying out "kinetic operations," but emphasized the investigation was ongoing. The cache was under surveillance but remained unused for a year. Russian Embassy in Germany dismissed reports linking the cache to Russian intelligence as "speculation."

Meduza, the source of this report, maintains transparency about its use of AI in news production, with human editors reviewing every draft before publication.