An ex-German Army officer was sentenced on Monday to three years and six months in prison by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court for working for the Russian government as an agent and passing official secrets.
The defendant, according to the prosecution, passed information to the Russian secret service which he obtained while working at the Bundeswehr Procurement Office in Koblenz. The former military captain sent documents intended for official use only to the Russian Embassy in Berlin and the Consulate General in Bonn from May 2023 onwards. The defendant offered cooperation and the delivery of further documents to the Russian state. According to the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf, the documents sent could be detrimental to the security of the Federal Republic of Germany as they contain information about military equipment.
The accused was noticed during surveillance of Russian facilities by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which led to the search of his Koblenz house in December 2023, leading to his arrest. The house search and arrest of the accused were conducted by the Federal German Police Office (BKA) in close cooperation with the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD).
The defendant confessed during the trial to having served as a spy for Russia, testifying that his motives were the fear of nuclear war due to the War in Ukraine and that he wanted to ensure his family’s safety. The defendant stated that he regrets contacting the Russian Embassy and Consulate and acknowledges his mistake.
The German Federal Prosecution Office, which was leading the prosecution, requested a sentence of three-and-a-half years in prison on May 14 when the case was brought up, with the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court agreeing with the request. The defense asked the judge to make a ruling at the court’s discretion.
The verdict is not yet final, as the defendant and the Federal Prosecutor General have the chance to appeal, which would have to be adjudicated by the German Federal Court of Justice.
