BERLIN, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Germany indicted two Ukrainians linked to an alleged plot on behalf of Russian spy services to detonate packages while they were being transported across Europe, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Their case, together with incidents of parcels detonating at European depots in 2024, underlined security officials’ warnings of a growing threat of hybrid attacks by Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has denied any involvement.
In March 2025, suspects identified under German privacy law only as Daniil B, Vladyslav T and Yevhen B, who is being prosecuted separately, sent two packages with GPS trackers from the western German city of Cologne to Ukraine on the orders of Russian intelligence intermediaries in Mariupol, the prosecutors’ statement said.
The purpose was to investigate logistics routes in order to later send packages with incendiary devices that would ignite in Germany or elsewhere en route to parts of Ukraine not occupied by Russia, causing as much damage as possible, it said.
Daniil B and Vladyslav T were arrested in Germany in May and remain in pre-trial detention. Yevhen B, who was arrested in Switzerland that same month, was extradited to Germany on December 23, with charges expected to be filed shortly.
(Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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