BERLIN (AFP): German prosecutors said Thursday they had charged a German Russian man who fought with a pro-Moscow militia in eastern Ukraine of terror offenses and of threatening state security.
The suspect, named only as Dieter S., was one of two men arrested in April on suspicion of planning attacks on Germany to undermine support for Ukraine, with targets including US military bases.
The federal prosecutor’s office said that Dieter S. was charged with “the preparation of a serious act of violence threatening state security,” but gave no further details of the nature of the alleged plot.
He was also charged with fighting in an armed unit of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian “People’s Republic of Donetsk” in eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2016, including in clashes at Donetsk airport and in the town of Marinka.
Prosecutors say that the militia he belonged to “repeatedly used violence against the civilian population.”
At the time of his arrest in April, authorities said that Dieter S. was “in contact with somebody connected to a Russian intelligence agency,” and that he had been exchanging information since October 2023 with them about possible sabotage operations in Germany.
On Thursday prosecutors said that a separate investigation into possible charges over his “involvement in intelligence activities should be concluded soon.”
Germany – a key ally of Kyiv – has been on high alert for sabotage and attacks on military facilities.
In August there were brief security scares at several military bases in western Germany, including one used by the NATO alliance.
