Charges against “throwaway agents”: Federal prosecutor accuses two Ukrainians of sabotage for Russia

afp/taz | Eight months after Arrest of three UkrainiansThe Federal Prosecutor’s Office has brought charges against two of them, who are said to have agreed to sabotage plans on behalf of Russia. According to the Karlsruhe authorities on Tuesday, Daniil B. and Vladyslav T. are said to have planned to post packages containing explosive devices. These should have ignited in Germany or on the way to Ukraine.

The aim was to cause as much damage as possible in order to impair the population’s sense of security, as the Federal Prosecutor’s Office explained. The three men had already sent two packages with activated GPS trackers from Cologne to Ukraine in March 2025 in order to research shipping routes and transport processes at the parcel service provider. A Russian secret service is said to have given the order for this through intermediaries in Ukraine.

The two suspects were arrested in Cologne and Konstanz in May, the third man, Yevhen B., in Switzerland. He was extradited to Germany in December. According to the information, charges will also be brought against him “promptly”. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office accuses T. and Daniil B. of acting as secret service agents, acting as agents for sabotage purposes and conspiring to commit serious arson. The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court will decide whether to admit the charges.

According to taz information, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution played an important role in unmasking the trio. Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) spoke of a “very serious incident” when the arrest was made in May. Russia is trying by all means to “destabilize Western democracies”. The Green domestic politician Konstantin von Notz spoke of a “hybrid war against Ukraine’s allies”. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) called the arrest in May an “important investigative success.”

The transport of goods has also been a target of the Russian intelligence services in the past. In the summer of 2024, there were packages prepared with explosive devices at several European airports burst into flames: In the DHL logistics center in Leipzig, in Birmingham in the UK and near Warsaw in Poland. After the attempted attacks on air cargo traffic, the Russian secret service GRU was identified as the mastermind. Here, too, a Ukrainian is said to have already been involved, who is said to have been hired by Russia for this task.

The Russian services are said to have recently increased their reliance on so-called “disposable agents” or “low-level agents”. These are people hired at short notice without intelligence training who are incentivized via social media to take on simpler missions in return for payment. The BKA warns before recruiting attempts via social media channels.