German police arrested a Russian scientist working at an unidentified university, accusing him spy for moscowProsecutors said, Monday, in a case that threatens to inflame bilateral tensions.
Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the suspect was identified only as Eleanor N. He was arrested on Friday on suspicion of Work in a Russian intelligence service from the beginning of October 2020 at the latest.
It was Eleanor N. He works until the time of his arrest as an investigative assistant in A Department of Natural Sciences and Technology at the Anonymous German University.
German researchers think so He met at least three times with a member of Russian intelligence between October 2020 and this month. On two occasions, he was alleged to have “transmitted information from the university’s domain”.
suspected Accept cash for his services.
German authorities searched his home and workplace during his arrest.
The suspect appeared before a judge on Saturday who detained him.
“totally unacceptable”
Neither the German nor the Russian government made any immediate comment on the case.
However, It is noteworthy that Moscow is at odds with several Western capitals after the massing of Russian forces on the borders of Ukraine And a series of spying scandals that led to the expulsion of diplomats.
Italy said this month that it had established National Cyber Security Agency after warnings from Prime Minister Mario Draghi What Europe needs to protect itself from Russian “interference”.
This step came after the police caught red-handed Italian navy captain He sold secret military documents that were leaked from his computer An official at the Russian Embassy.
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/AVNGU4B5AZHT3JC5YE7FA6LTAQ.jpg 420w)
Leaders of nine Eastern European countries last month condemned what they described asRussian aggressive actions” citing operations in Ukraine and “sabotage” allegedly targeting the Czech Republic.
Several Central and Eastern European countries have expelled Russian diplomats in solidarity with Prague, but Russia described the accusations of its participation as “ridiculous”. And responded by eye to expel the eye.
Another spy case comes at a time Very tense relations between Russia and Germany on various fronts, Including the ongoing arrest of a Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who received treatment in Berlin after suffering a near-fatal poisoning.
What is more, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has worked to maintain a sanctions regime for Moscow’s annexation of CrimeaThe scene of the ongoing conflict between pro-Russian separatists and local forces.
Germany has repeatedly accused Russia of launching cyber attacks on its territory.
The most notable incident attributed to Russian hackers so far was a A cyber attack in 2015 completely paralyzed the computer network of the Lower House of the German parliament, forcing the entire organization to disconnect for several days while it was being repaired.
German prosecutors filed in February Spying charges against a German man suspected of passing parliamentary plans to Russian intelligence services in 2017.
Minister of Foreign Affairs , Heiko MassLast week, she said Germany hoped to be a target of Russian disinformation in the run-up to a general election in September, calling it “totally unacceptable”.
Russia denies responsibility for such activities.
Despite international criticism, Berlin continued with its plans to end the pipeline nord stream 2, Which will double Russian natural gas supplies to Germany.
(With information from AFP)
Read on:
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/53RFOA42FX7KAGGMIMASNRUUCM.jpg)
