Two men have been detained in Germany on suspicion of planning acts of sabotage for a foreign organization after “suspicious” items were discovered in their vehicle during a random check. the local police said on Thursday. In the case of those detained, it is a Ukrainian and a citizen of Latvia, TASR informs, according to the reports of the DPA and AFP agencies.
On the men, aged 43 and 45, they found false identity documents, as well as cameras, a drone, GPS trackers, several mobile phones and SIM cards. The police and the prosecutor’s office specified that the objects were discovered during a routine traffic control.
The arrest of the suspects comes at a time when Germany is on high alert due to acts of sabotage by Russia, which target Berlin for supporting Kiev during Moscow’s four-year-long invasion of Ukraine.
The suspect’s vehicle with a Latvian license plate was stopped on April 12 on a highway in the south of the state of Bavaria, the police said. Both suspects, whose identities have not been released, were placed in custody. “We are currently working on the assumption that the suspects acted on behalf of a group or institution outside of Germany,” police said without further details.
If the men are accused and convicted of preparing sabotage for the benefit of a foreign power, they face a prison sentence of up to five years. However, they also face suspicions of falsifying personal documents, for which the penalty is two years.
Last month, three Ukrainian citizens were also tried in the southern German city of Stuttgart on charges of participating in the planning of sending explosive packages through Germany and Ukraine. Several other trials of suspected Russian agents are also underway, with a Munich court sentencing a German-Russian national to six years in prison last October for espionage and plotting sabotage for Moscow.
