German police arrest Kazakh national suspected of ties to Russian intelligence

BERLIN — German police arrested a Kazakh national suspected of passing information about possible targets for sabotage and Germany's defense industry to Russia's intelligence service, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The federal prosecutor's office said the suspect, identified only as Sergei K., was detained Tuesday under an arrest warrant that alleges he maintained continuous contact with Russian intelligence since at least May 2025.

He was said to have passed on information about defense companies, including ones developing drones and robots.

The suspect also allegedly informed a contact with the foreign intelligence service about “suitable targets for sabotage” in Germany and offered to recruit members for an espionage and sabotage group.

The suspect was being brought Wednesday before a judge who would decide whether he could be locked up pending trial.

Authorities in Germany and other European Union and NATO countries have been on high alert as relations with Russia have deteriorated to the lowest levels since the Cold War after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks ranging from arson and sabotage to cyberattacks and espionage since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.