On the morning of Oct. 22, officers from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police arrested a foreign national on suspicion of spying for Russia, according to Der Spiegel and t-Online. The suspect is a 53-year-old Ukrainian citizen, identified by t-Online as Vadym Y.
The man was arrested in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg, where he lived in the city of Eisenhüttenstadt. He allegedly maintained contact with Russian intelligence services through an intermediary.
Authorities suspect he gathered sensitive military information, including data on Germany’s production of armored vehicles, ammunition, and explosives, as well as information about NATO personnel and military facilities.
Der Spiegel also reported that the suspect had shown interest in the German army’s 45th Armored Brigade, commonly known as the Lithuania Brigade — the 5,000-member unit is due to be deployed to Lithuania next year.
A day earlier, Russian security forces detained a German citizen who was said to have fought on the Ukrainian side in the war. Russian authorities claimed the man had deserted because he did not receive a promised payment of 100,000 hryvnias (less than 2,000 euros).
Additionally, last week Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported detaining a Swedish citizen whom they accused of illegally crossing the border. He, too, had served under contract in the Ukrainian military — as the commander of a drone unit in the Aidar Battalion. His relatives later confirmed that account to Swedish media.
