The federal prosecutors had a Romanian woman and a Ukrainian man detained on Tuesday. The defendants are “promptly suspected of having worked for a foreign intelligence service” the Attorney General said.
The Romanian was arrested in Rheine, North Rhine‑Westphalia, by special forces of the state police together with officers from the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office. The Ukrainian was taken into custody in Elda/Alicante, Spain, by Spanish authorities. At the same time, the suspects’ residences were searched.
According to a European arrest warrant issued by an investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice, the Ukrainian allegedly began spying on a German target from December 2025 on behalf of a Russian intelligence service. The target supplies drones and related components from Germany to Ukraine. The suspect is accused of gathering information online and filming the target’s workplace.
When the Ukrainian moved to Spain, the Romanian is said to have taken over the mission from March 2026 onward, the warrant states. She allegedly visited the target’s address and filmed the location with a mobile phone. The surveillance operations are alleged to have prepared further intelligence activities against the target.
The Romanian is scheduled to appear before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice on Wednesday, where the judge will issue a warrant and decide on pre‑trial detention. The Ukrainian will be presented after his transfer from Spain.
The case was conducted in cooperation with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, and the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office oversaw the police investigations.
