Federal prosecutors in Germany have charged a 57-year-old Berlin businesswoman — identified as Ilona W., a citizen of both Germany and Ukraine — with spying on behalf of Russia. A number of publications, including The Insider, have identified the woman as Ilona Kopylova-Wiener.
According to a 74-page indictment outlined by Der Spiegel, German prosecutors have accused Ilona W. of acting on behalf of a Russian intelligence service. The charges were filed nearly eight months after her arrest.
Investigators say that in November 2023 the businesswoman began passing information to a contact at the Russian Embassy in Berlin. German counterintelligence identified that contact as GRU officer Andrei Mayorov, who worked under diplomatic cover as a deputy military attaché. Mayorov was expelled from Germany earlier this year.
Der Spiegel reported that Ilona W. deliberately gathered information about participants in political events, including a “NATO Talk” held at Berlin’s Hotel Adlon in November 2023 and the German-Ukrainian Business Forum in Berlin in December 2025. At the latter, Wiener sat a few meters from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Prosecutors also allege that in February 2024, Ilona W. used a false name to bring her suspected handler, Mayorov, into a meeting of Bundeswehr reservists. Der Spiegel characterized her as a prominent figure “considered extremely active” in Berlin who headed an association dedicated to “promoting international understanding” and regularly attended receptions and events with ambassadors, senior diplomats, and well-known politicians. The advisory board of her organization included prominent businesspeople and former lawmakers from Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
In the spring, Wiener’s defense challenged her detention and criticized prosecutors for what they called a “broad interpretation” of the criminal provision covering intelligence activity on behalf of a foreign state.
News of Wiener’s arrest first emerged in January.
