A Ukrainian national has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for Russia, with prosecutors alleging he collected intelligence on military equipment, personnel and defence sites.
The suspect, identified as Vadym Y, was detained in Brandenburg, about 85km west of Berlin, Germany’s federal prosecutors said on Thursday.
Investigators said he had been in contact with Russia’s secret service through an intermediary since at least July 2025.
Prosecutors allege that he gathered information about the production of armoured vehicles, ammunition and explosives, as well as military personnel and installations intended to help protect Nato’s eastern flank.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking while attending the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro, said he was “not surprised” by news of a suspected Russian spy.
Germany raises Russian sabotage threat level
The arrest follows a series of incidents in which German authorities have blamed Russia for drone activity described by officials as part of Moscow’s “shadow war” against the country.
Germany’s armed forces raised their assessment of the threat posed by Russian sabotage against troops and military facilities to “significant” on Wednesday. It was the first time the second-highest level on the military’s internal scale had been used.
The decision followed the discovery in mid-September of a crashed drone carrying high explosives near Wunstorf airbase in Lower Saxony.
The aircraft resembled another explosives-laden drone involved in a failed attack at Leipzig/Halle airport in August. Investigators believe the Wunstorf drone was aimed at military aircraft, while the Leipzig incident was said to have targeted civilian cargo planes.
German media have also reported suspected Russian reconnaissance operations, including drones flown over a missile defence site in Saxony-Anhalt and a concealed camera found filming a strategically important railway station in Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Martin Jaeger, head of Germany’s BND intelligence service, told lawmakers this month that Russia’s undeclared “shadow war” against Germany and its allies was escalating and had “taken on a new, more dangerous character”.
“Germany is at risk of being drawn into a violent conflict with Russia,” he told an intelligence oversight committee in the Bundestag.
Moscow has denied involvement and said it is not engaged in sabotage or hybrid attacks against European countries.
