Ilona W. is said to have passed on sensitive data to Russia. The federal government is also expelling a Russian military attaché.
afp | One day after her arrest, the suspected Russian spy Ilona W. was taken into custody. This was ordered by the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice, as the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe announced on Thursday. W. is said to have transmitted information to a Russian secret service, including about the war in Ukraine.
W. was arrested in Berlin on Wednesday. According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, she had maintained secret service contacts with the Federal Prosecutor since November 2023 at the latest Russian embassy. Among other things, there is a suspicion that W. compiled background information about participants in high-profile political events.
She also made inquiries about defense industry locations, drone tests and planned deliveries of drones to Ukraine. A few times she is said to have helped her contact from the embassy to visit political events in Berlin under a false identity in order to establish contacts there.
The federal government summoned the Russian ambassador on Thursday. He was informed that another suspect in the case had been deported. He “spied on behalf of Russia”. This is said to be the suspected spy’s senior officer, the deputy military attaché at the embassy. W. should send their collected information to Ukraine war passed on to this contact person.
Two former members of the Bundeswehr, whom W. knew personally, are also being investigated. They are suspected of having given her official information – although it is unclear whether they knew that it was apparently supposed to go to the secret service. According to the Federal Ministry of Defense, it is a former staff officer who recently retired and a senior civil servant who left the Bundeswehr more than 15 years ago.
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