Ukrainian convicted in Germany over Russian sabotage plot / Photo: THOMAS KIENZLE - AFP
Ukrainian convicted in Germany over Russian sabotage plot
A German court on Tuesday handed a jail sentence of one year and three months to a Ukrainian man for spying for Russia and helping prepare possible acts of sabotage.
The court in Stuttgart acquitted two other Ukrainian men aged 22 and 25 who were on trial for the same plot, which involved posting test packages containing GPS trackers in March last year to Ukraine.
The plan was aimed at scoping out possibilities for "disrupting transport and infrastructure" and was ultimately directed by a "Russian state entity", the court said.
Yevhen Bezchasnyi, 30, was arrested in Switzerland in May 2025 before being extradited to Germany in December.
He was found guilty of "spying for the purposes of sabotage".
However the time he has already spent in pre-trial detention counted towards his sentence and he will now be released.
Germany is Ukraine's most important backer in its fight against Russia's full-scale invasion and has been on high alert for suspected sabotage and espionage operations emanating from Moscow.
Earlier this month an explosives-laden drone was discovered near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig-Halle airport, a key military equipment transport hub.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called the incident a "hybrid attack scenario" potentially involving a "foreign power", but did not name Russia.
The court found that Bezchasnyi was "acting on behalf of an acquaintance from Russian‑occupied Mariupol", a Ukrainian city devastated by Russian bombing and now occupied by Russian troops.
- Sabotage plot -
It said that "he organised the shipment of GPS trackers" in two packages which also included spare car parts.
Bezchasnyi "then involved the two other defendants and handed the trackers over to the 22‑year‑old defendant in Konstanz, who forwarded them as instructed to Cologne".
"From there, the 25-year-old defendant sent them to Ukraine using a Ukrainian shipping service provider," the court said.
However it could not be proven that those two defendants knew their actions were part of a sabotage plot.
The court also could not find evidence that the men had conspired to commit arson by sending explosive devices, as had been alleged by prosecutors.
Those allegations recalled a suspected plot to mail "home-made explosive-incendiary devices" from Lithuania to destinations across Europe in July 2024.
Parcels went off at DHL logistics facilities in the United Kingdom and in the eastern German city of Leipzig.
Ten suspects have been put on trial over that scheme in two separate trials in Poland and Lithuania.
Prosecutors and intelligence officials in several European countries believe that Russia was ultimately behind the plot.
J.Dupont--JdCdC
