Germany charges three dual German-Russian nationals with espionage
January 6, 2025 2 Comments
THE OFFICE OF THE Federal Prosecutor in Germany has charged three dual German-Russian citizens with acts of espionage on behalf of Russia, with the intent of harming the national security of the German state. In compliance with German privacy laws, the three espionage suspects have been publicly identified only by their first names and last name initials. They are: Dieter S., Alex D., and Alexander J.
Dieter S. appears to be the central suspect in this case. Following his arrest by the German Federal Criminal Police Office, he was found to have participated in military operations of the secessionist Donetsk People’s Republic in Ukraine. By that time, German authorities had already charged him with being in contact with an individual known to be a member of Russian intelligence, who operated as his handler.
According to the indictment, throughout his interactions with his Russian handler, Dieter S. repeatedly made it known that he was willing and able to carry out acts of sabotage against security-related installations in Germany, on behalf of the Russian Federation. He also offered to carry out arson attacks and use explosives against transportation facilities and infrastructure, such as railway lines, which were used by the German state to transport military supplies to Ukraine.
Subsequently, Dieter S. was instructed by his Russian handler to collect intelligence about potential targets in southeastern Germany. He thus engaged in systematic surveillance activities targeting the Grafenwoehr Training Area, a United States Army military training base located near Grafenwöhr, in eastern Bavaria. Grafenwöhr is the largest training facility maintained by the United States in Europe. Since 2022, it has been used to instruct Ukrainian troops on how to operate American-built tanks.
Dieter S. is also believed to have conducted surveillance at several loading stations used by the German and American militaries, as well as the facilities of private-sector contractors to the German military. In his surveillance operations, Dieter S. was assisted by Alex D. and Alexander J. All three men took photographs and videos of the targeted facilities. The collected material was eventually passed on to Dieter S.’s Russian handler.
Official charges against the three suspects were filed before the State Security Senate of the Munich Higher Regional Court on December 9. They were publicized by the office of the Federal Public Prosecutor General on December 30. A trial date is now pending.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 06 January 2025 | Permalink
AUTHORITIES IN BRITAIN AND Germany are reportedly investigating the possibility that the Russian intelligence services may be behind two fires that occurred in shipping warehouses last summer. The fires occurred in late July in facilities belonging to DHL, a German logistics firm headquartered in Bonn.
AN INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN launched in France after a Ukrainian-born Russian national reportedly detonated explosives in a hotel room near Paris, suffering severe burns in the process. 
AUTHORITIES IN GERMANY and Poland have charged three individuals with working on behalf of Russian military intelligence in planning acts of sabotage and assassination on European soil. One of the plots allegedly involved an effort to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Another aimed to sabotage commercial airport facilities that are being managed by the United States military.
THE UKRAINIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES are training and arming cells of saboteurs inside Russia, who are responsible for several acts of sabotage on Russian soil, including a recent attack on the Kremlin, according to CNN. In an 
A SERIES OF LARGE-scale incidents of destruction, which have been occurring across Russia in recent days, are prompting speculation that the county may be experiencing a wave of attacks against its strategic infrastructure. The incidents include enormous fires at power plants, munition depots and state-owned storage facilities. The collapse of at least one railway bridge has also been reported. There are additional reports of massive wildfires raging across Siberia, which are imposing heavy demands on Russia’s emergency response infrastructure.
There is growing speculation that Israel’s intelligence services may be behind a spate of blasts that have damaged military and civilian industrial sites in Iran in recent days. Citing a “Middle Eastern intelligence official”, The New York Times 
The Russian government sent a team of spies to Ireland to monitor undersea fiber-optic cables, which enable communications traffic between North America and Western Europe, according to a new report. The spies were allegedly sent to Ireland by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, which is known in Russia as GU, and formerly as GRU.
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates said on Sunday that four commercial ships were targeted by “sabotage operations”, but did not point to possible culprits. The announcement came hours after false reports circulated in Iranian and Lebanese media stating that explosions had been witnessed at the port of Fujairah, a major Emirati commercial shipping facility that borders the Sultanate of Oman and is visible from the coast of Iran. The alleged explosions were first 
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is among several intelligence agencies in the United States that have expressed concerns about an alleged Russian campaign to destabilize November’s presidential elections. The Washington Post, which 
intelNews.org 
Reuters publishes details about alleged Russian airline sabotage plot
April 7, 2025 by Joseph Fitsanakis 4 Comments
It is now understood that the explosions occurred on July 19, 20 and 21, 2024, and that at least two of them took place in facilities belonging to DHL, a German logistics firm headquartered in Bonn. Affected facilities are reportedly located in Leipzig, Warsaw, and Birmingham. All three explosions were caused by rudimentary incendiary devices hidden inside commercial shipments. European officials said at the time that the explosions were part of a broader wider campaign by Russian intelligence to sabotage Western European transportation and shipping networks.
Now the Reuters news agency claims that the explosions were meant to test security systems in preparation for a major sabotage operation. The operation aimed to detonate explosive mechanisms in mid-air on cargo flights from Europe to the United States and Canada. Moreover, a fourth incendiary device, which was found at a Warsaw shipping facility, failed to explode and has been forensically examined by bomb experts, Reuters said. Citing “interviews with more than a dozen European security officials”, including a person familiar with the case in Poland, the news agency said it was able to provide “the most granular account yet of the alleged plot”.
The report claims the incendiary devices were concealed inside pillows, bottles of cosmetics, and sex toys. They were ignited with the use of remote timers taken from cheap Chinese electronic goods. Once detonated, the timers sparked explosions with the help of gelled flammable cocktails that included compounds such as nitromethane—a highly flammable liquid chemical used in industrial applications. All ingredients used in the incendiary devices, including nitromethane, are easily accessible to consumers at a relatively low cost.
According to Reuters, the procedures followed in the DHL attacks fit the profile of similar operations that have been carried out in recent years by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Forces’ General Staff, known as GRU. Such procedures include hiring disposable agents, most of which are not Russian citizens, for one-off operations. In the case of the DHL attacks, the agents were allegedly hired on the encrypted messaging platform Telegram and paid with the use of cryptocurrencies, or in cash.
Among the alleged suspects in the case is a Ukrainian man identified by Reuters as Vladyslav Dekravets, who was recruited in southern Poland and is now facing extradition to Poland from Bosnia. Another suspect, identified in the Reuters report as Alexander Bezrukavyi, allegedly packaged parcels containing sneaker shoes for shipment to the United States and Canada. The shipments were intended to help the GRU “gather information about parcel-processing methods and timing”. During the operation, the two men came in contact with individuals who appeared to be GRU officers, using the cryptonyms WARRIOR and MARY.
The DHL cases remain at a pre-trial stage in several European countries, Reuters said. They involve the pending extradition of suspects from elsewhere in Europe. The trials are going to feature evidence gathered from criminal investigators and intelligence agencies, according to the report.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 07 April 2025 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Alexander Bezrukavyi, DHL Group, Germany, GRU, News, Poland, Russia, sabotage, transportation security, UK, Vladyslav Dekravets