German security agencies suspect that agents of the Russian secret services may have planned attacks in Germany, following the discovery of an underground stash with several firearms and ammunition in a forest near Berlin.
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The German Interior Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, confirmed at a press conference the discovery in October last year of the stash, consisting of two handguns and their corresponding ammunition, and the arrest of a suspect in Romania, where he remains detained.
The conservative politician did not want to specify the nationality of the detainee, whom he described as a “low-level agent” or “disposable,” a method widely used by Russia since the expulsion of its regular agents from most European Union (EU) countries.
Dobrindt does not reveal the nationality of the detainee, whom he describes as a “low-level agent”
The Attorney General opened an investigation against the detainee focused on “espionage activities and preparation of a serious crime that endangers state security,” the minister specified, who did not mention the word “Russia,” but did place this discovery within the context of “hybrid threats.”
According to the weekly Der Spiegel, which broke the news, security agencies have found evidence that the stash was created on behalf of the Russian intelligence services.
Dobrindt said he could not provide more details at the moment about the possible use of the weapons and ammunition found, but noted that, following another case opened in Romania against the detainee, it can be assumed that he had plans to carry out an attack.
Links with a sabotage campaign against Ukrainian logistics lines are being investigated
German authorities are investigating possible links between the weapons cache found near Berlin and a sabotage campaign against Ukrainian logistics lines, apparently initiated by Russia, according to Der Spiegel.
Last year, Polish security forces arrested several people who, in some cases from Romania, were supposed to send postal packages prepared with incendiary devices or detonators, which would later have been activated remotely or by timer during shipping and could have caused serious damage to vehicles, cargo planes, or logistics centers.
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Similar incidents were also recorded in Germany, such as at Leipzig airport, where in 2024 a package sent from the Baltic countries containing an incendiary device caught fire in a cargo container on the runway.
Additionally, in early August, a drone with explosives was detected at the same airport, whose target would have been a Ukrainian plane loaded with ammunition.
The Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office announced, for its part, last October that several Ukrainians were being investigated who allegedly had prepared acts of sabotage on behalf of the Russian secret services following this scheme.
Dobrindt, however, pointed out that although this case falls within scenarios of hybrid threats, this does not mean there is a clear connection with other current incidents in Germany.
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At the same time, he said that the participation of foreign powers in this case cannot be ruled out either, something that the ongoing investigation will clarify, he added.
The discovery of the stash, according to Der Spiegel’s information, was the subject of intense undercover investigations by state security and counterintelligence services.
The weapons cache, which were secretly modified by police specialists to make them unusable, was monitored for months, but no one came to collect them, the publication notes.
