German court convicts Ukrainian man in alleged Russian sabotage plot
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A German court on Aug. 18 sentenced a Ukrainian man to one year and three months in prison over spying for Russia and preparing a possible sabotage operation.
The court in Stuttgart also acquitted two Ukrainians standing trial in the same case.
The three were detained in Germany and Switzerland in May 2025, with investigators accusing them of sending GPS-tracked parcels via a postal service to Ukraine in preparation for a possible Russian intelligence-orchestrated arson and bombing plot.
They were then meant to ship incendiary packages that would ignite in Germany or somewhere along the route, but the men were uncovered before carrying out the plan, German prosecutors said.
The German court found the 30-year-old Ukrainian, who it said recently resided in Switzerland, guilty of "spying for the purposes of sabotage."
The court also ruled that the time he spent in a pre-trial detention center will be counted toward his sentence, meaning he will now be released.
The three men were previously identified as Yevhen B., Vladyslav T., and Daniil B., with Yevhen extradited from Switzerland to Germany last December.
Western officials have been raising alarm over the surging number of suspected Russian-backed hybrid operations across Europe. Moscow often seeks to employ Ukrainian nationals for such activities, offering financial reward or using coercion.
Earlier in August, a Ukrainian cargo plane loaded with ammunition was targeted by a drone carrying explosives at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport, with U.S. intelligence reportedly suspecting the drone belonged to Moscow.
