German police have arrested a Russian scientist working at an unidentified university, accusing him of spying for Moscow, prosecutors said on Monday, in a case that risks further inflaming bilateral tensions.
Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the suspect, identified only as Ilnur N., had been taken into custody on Friday on suspicion of “working for a Russian secret service since early October 2020 at the latest”.
Ilnur N. was employed as a research assistant at a natural sciences and technology department at the unnamed German university.
German investigators believe he met at least three times with a member of Russian intelligence between October 2020 and this month. On two occasions he allegedly “passed on information from the university’s domain”.
He is suspected of accepting cash in exchange for his services.
German authorities searched his home and workplace in the course of the arrest.
The suspect appeared before a judge on Saturday who remanded him in custody.
‘Completely unacceptable’
Neither the German nor the Russian government made any immediate comment on the case.
However Moscow is at loggerheads with a number of Western capitals after a Russian troop build-up on Ukraine’s borders and a series of espionage scandals that have resulted in diplomatic expulsions.
Italy this month said it had created a national cybersecurity agency following warnings by Prime Minister Mario Draghi that Europe needed to protect itself from Russian “interference”.
The move came after an Italian navy captain was caught red-handed by police while selling confidential military documents from his computer to a Russian embassy official.
The leaders of nine eastern European nations last month condemned what they termed Russian “aggressive acts” citing operations in Ukraine an ..
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