Three men arrested for planning attacks in Germany

The Federal Prosecutor's Office has arrested three Ukrainians for planning attacks in Germany. The Karlsruhe-based authority announced this. The men are strongly suspected of "agent activity for the purposes of sabotage." They are accused of planning to carry out arson and explosive attacks on freight transport in Germany. They allegedly agreed to this with one or more individuals. They were therefore allegedly acting on behalf of Russian state authorities.

According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the three men were tasked with sending packages from Germany to recipients in Ukraine . During transport, the explosive or incendiary devices contained within them were to be detonated. In order to scout out suitable transport routes, one of the accused mailed two test packages in Cologne at the end of March, which contained, among other things, GPS trackers.

The three men were arrested in recent days in Cologne, Konstanz and the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland, the authorities said.

According to North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), the investigation is still in its early stages. "I'm not sure if this is all there is to it," Reul said in Düsseldorf. "It's not over. There could be a second, third, or fourth incident." The danger in the current case was serious, he said.

The Federal Intelligence Service (BND), the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, General Carsten Breuer, and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) have warned repeatedly about Russian sabotage and espionage in recent months.

"We are observing aggressive behavior by the Russian intelligence services," said the now-retired former BfV President, Thomas Haldenwang, in the fall. Espionage and sabotage by Russian actors in particular have increased in Germany – "both quantitatively and qualitatively." In March, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution cited several examples of suspected sabotage from recent months – including incidents on German warships, for which investigations are still ongoing.

At an event on economic protection, BfV Vice President Sinan Selen spoke of almost daily drone flights over military installations and companies. He emphasized that these were not "toy drones."