{
  "id": 1679628,
  "title": "Spionage: Haftstrafe im Prozess gegen mutmaßlichen Agenten Russlands",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/spionage-haftstrafe-im-prozess-gegen-mutma-lichen-agenten-russlands",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-18T08:57:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/spionage-haftstrafe-im-prozess-gegen-mutmasslichen-agenten-russlands/100247960.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "A young Ukrainian man has been sentenced to one year and three months in prison in Germany for alleged spy activities on behalf of Russia. He is accused of preparing arson attacks on orders from the Russian intelligence agency. The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court handed down the sentence, although the specific orders and the immediate evidence of the planned attacks are yet to be disclosed in the ongoing trial. Two other Ukrainian defendants were acquitted by the court. The men were arrested in Konstanz, Cologne, and the Swiss canton of Thurgau. According to the Federal Prosecutor's office, they were part of a sabotage plan targeting transportation routes of a courier service. The men were charged with sending two packages containing GPS trackers to Ukraine via a Ukrainian postal service in March 2025. The alleged Russian intelligence provided the orders through intermediaries from the Ukrainian town of Mariupol, aiming to investigate the routes and transportation processes of the courier service. The next step, as indicated by the prosecutors, would have been to send packages filled with incendiary devices that could ignite and cause significant damage during transit, thereby undermining public safety in parts of Ukraine not under Russian control. The three men allegedly agreed to carry out the packages, but they reportedly fled the scene before the attacks could be executed.",
  "summary": "Drei Ukrainer sollen im Auftrag Russlands von Deutschland aus Anschläge auf Transportwege vorbereitet haben. Nun ist in Stuttgart das Urteil gefallen. Nur einer wird verurteilt.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Handelsblatt",
        "title": "Incendiary devices by post?: Sentence expected against alleged Russian agents",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/brandsatze-per-post-urteil-gegen-mutma-liche-agenten-russlands",
        "published": "2026-08-18T01:30:12.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}