A Ukrainian national has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for Russia, German federal prosecutors confirmed on Thursday.
The suspect, identified as Vadym Y., was detained in the state of Brandenburg, approximately 85 kilometres west of Berlin.
Prosecutors said the man had been in contact with the Russian secret service through an intermediary since at least July 2025. He is accused of gathering military intelligence on the production of armoured vehicles, ammunition and explosives, as well as on military personnel and defence installations at locations designed to secure NATO's eastern flank.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, attending the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro, said he was "not surprised" by the news of a suspected Russian spy.
The arrest comes as German authorities have raised the threat level of Russian sabotage against their troops and facilities to "significant" for the first time — the second-highest level on the military's internal threat scale.
The elevated alert followed the discovery in mid-September of a crashed drone carrying high explosives near Wunstorf airbase in Lower Saxony, according to reports. The drone resembled an unmanned aircraft used in a failed attack at Leipzig/Halle airport in August.
Unlike the Leipzig incident, which authorities said targeted civilian cargo aircraft, investigators believe the Wunstorf drone was aimed at military aircraft, according to an internal military document seen by German media.
Authorities have also noted a broader pattern of suspected Russian reconnaissance activity across Germany. This includes drones flown over a missile defence site in Saxony-Anhalt and a camouflaged camera found filming a strategically important railway station in Minden, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Martin Jaeger, head of Germany's BND intelligence service, told lawmakers this month that Russia's undeclared shadow war against Germany and its allies was escalating and had "taken on a new, more dangerous character."
"Germany is at risk of being drawn into a violent conflict with Russia," Jaeger told an intelligence oversight committee at the Bundestag.
Moscow denied involvement and maintained it is not engaged in sabotage or hybrid attacks against European nations.
