Germany detains two suspected of spying for Russia

Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office said on Tuesday that two people have been taken into custody and accused of spying for Russia.

The two suspects were a 45-year-old Romanian woman, who was detained in the northwestern German city of Rheine, and a 43-year-old Ukrainian man, who was arrested in the southeastern Spanish city of Elda.

The alleged spies were reportedly targeting a German national who supplied drones and related components to Ukraine, prosecutors said in a statement.

"Starting in December 2025, Sergey N., acting on behalf of a Russian intelligence service, surveilled a person in Germany who was shipping drones and related components from here to Ukraine," prosecutors said in a statement. 

Prosecutors said Sergey N. gathered information and made video recordings of the target's workplace.

Suspects worked together

When the man moved to Spain, the Romanian national identified as Alla S. is believed to have taken over his assignment, going to the target's address and filming it with her phone.

"The surveillance activities were presumably intended to prepare further intelligence operations against the target," prosecutors said.

According to German magazine Der Spiegel, investigators believe these operations could have included physical attacks or an assassination attempt.

German authorities have said that Russia is actively recruiting so-called "disposable agents," who have no formal training, but who can carry out acts, ranging from arson to property damage and drone overflights of sensitive sites, in exchange for small sums of money.

Officials say that Russia's intelligence service recruits them via social media.

Edited by: Sean Sinico