In Berlin, a Ukrainian citizen received a conviction in Germany on Tuesday for espionage charges. He was sentenced to one year and three months in prison after accusations of sending packages with GPS trackers to Ukraine in March 2025. This action utilized a Ukrainian postal service.
According to the German news agency dpa, the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court acquitted two other Ukrainian citizens. Their names remain undisclosed due to German privacy laws. Arrests occurred last year in Germany and Switzerland.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office alleged the group planned sabotage targeting transportation routes. The court found the convicted individual organized two packages with GPS transmitters in Germany. The court stated he should have known these could be used for espionage tied to sabotage attempts, as reported by dpa. The judge indicated the order likely came from a Russian government agency through an intermediary.
The prosecution suspected a Russian intelligence service issued the directive from Mariupol, Ukraine. The goal was to gather information on transportation routes and procedures of the package delivery service.
Investigators suggested the plan included sending packages with devices activating en route. The Federal Prosecutor’s allegations claimed these packages aimed to ignite, either in Germany or elsewhere, potentially reaching Ukrainian areas not occupied by Russia. Their purpose was to sow insecurity among the public by causing maximum damage.
The three men allegedly agreed to send these packages. However, they were caught during planning stages. The court found no concrete sabotage plans. The convicted individual will not serve additional prison time, as his preventive detention period covers the sentence.
In an earlier case from 2024, Western security officials suspected Russian intelligence was behind incendiary devices placed in packages on cargo planes heading to North America. One incident resulted in a fire at a German courier hub, and another occurred in a UK warehouse.