Spionage: Mutmaßliche Spionin Russlands in Berlin angeklagt
Die Bundesanwaltschaft geht gegen eine mutmaßliche russische Spionin vor.
The Federal Prosecution Office has filed charges against a suspected Russian spy in Berlin. The highest German prosecution authority accuses the woman of providing intelligence to a military intelligence officer at the Russian embassy. She is charged with espionage. The German-Ukrainian woman was arrested in January and has been held in custody since.
The alleged spy is said to have been in contact with the intelligence officer since at least October 2023, according to the prosecution's claim. "She supplied her accuser with numerous details about high-profile events and enabled him - sometimes under a false name - to attend such events," according to a statement. "This allowed him to build his own intelligence network," the release said.
She is also accused of attempting to recruit personnel from the Federal Ministry of Defense and the arms industry for her purposes. On the order of the intelligence officer, she sought information on German defense policy and arms industry, particularly in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The State Prosecution Senate of Berlin's Chamber Court must now decide whether and when a trial will take place.
On the day of arrest in January, in addition to the German-Ukrainian woman's premises, the premises of two other accused were also searched. The authorities made no further details about the co-accused at the time, saying they were at large. The operation also targeted two former Bundeswehr members: a recently retired staff officer and a higher service official, who had left the Bundeswehr more than 15 years ago.
They were suspected of betraying service information to a middle person. The Federal Prosecution Office made no further details about possible co-accused. It was previously known that the alleged spy lived in Germany for several decades and worked as a marketing consultant, while chairing a lobby association. She had been known as a "pro-Russian networker" in security circles since her arrest in January, according to intelligence sources. In political Berlin, she was present and attended various events of associations and organizations.
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