Berlin, Aug 9 (EFE).- A military officer assigned to the defense procurement agency was arrested Wednesday in the western city of Koblenz on suspicion of offering classified information to Russia, German federal prosecutors said.
The suspect, identified only as Thomas H., stated his willingness to cooperate with Moscow in the course of multiple visits to the Russian Embassy in Berlin and Russia’s consulate in Bonn over the last three months, prosecutors said.
Investigators searched the suspect’s residence and office in Koblenz, where the defense ministry’s Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support agency is based.
During one encounter with Russian diplomats, Thomas H. provided information about his work with the intention that it be passed on to an intelligence agency in Moscow, prosecutors said.
“The Federal Prosecutor has arrested a German officer on suspicion of working for a foreign secret service,” Justice Minister Marco Buschmann wrote on social media platform X. “Vigilance is the order of the day.”
The investigation leading to his arrest was conducted in collaboration with military intelligence and with German’s domestic security service, the BfV.
Thomas H. appeared in court Wednesday and the judge ordered him held without bail.
Last December, a high-ranking official of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) was arrested in Berlin on charges of supplying classified information to Russia. EFE cph/dr
