Prosecutors in Germany have revealed that three suspected agents of a foreign intelligence service are in custody after their arrest earlier this week.
The suspected foreign agents were arrested in Frankfurt on Wednesday, according to the German federal prosecutor’s office, which publicly disclosed the arrests for the first time on Friday.
The men were brought before the judge on Thursday, who ruled that the men should remain in custody longer.
“The three suspects traveled through Germany on behalf of a foreign secret service to collect information about a person from Ukraine who was staying here,” Germany’s highest prosecutorial authority added.
The specific foreign intelligence service they worked for remains unknown, prosecutors said.
The alleged agents are a Ukrainian, an Armenian and a Russian citizen. They are “strongly suspected” of working for a foreign secret service, they said.
Their mission would consist of collecting information about a Ukrainian individual living in Germany. On Wednesday, the trio were observed exploring a cafe in Frankfurt where prosecutors said their target was located.
The arrests were made based on observations and not on a tip, which is often the case in such scenarios, DPA has learned.
This is not an isolated incident. German prosecutors have been handling several espionage cases recently.
At the end of April, four suspected agents were arrested for allegedly working for a Chinese secret service. Among them was Maximilian Krah, a former top adviser to the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Krah has been beset by several scandals, including allegations of accepting money from Russia and China.
His former assistant is accused of passing on information about the activities of the European Parliament and spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany.
Less than a week earlier, two men were arrested in Bavaria for allegedly working for a Russian secret service.
They were reportedly looking for potential targets for sabotage operations intended to undermine Germany’s military support to Ukraine during the Russian invasion.
Germany remains a prime target for espionage due to its prominent role in the EU, NATO and other international organizations.
A 2023 report from the German Ministry of the Interior on the protection of the Constitution underlined the significant use of human intelligence, cyber-attacks and other technical reconnaissance tools by foreign powers in their intelligence operations, which pose a serious threat to Germany and its interests.
