A Ukrainian citizen was found guilty in Germany on Tuesday on charges of espionage and sentenced to one year and three months in prison. The individual faced accusations of sending packages with GPS trackers to Ukraine through a Ukrainian postal service in March 2025. Two other Ukrainian nationals were acquitted by the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court, according to the German news agency dpa. Their names were not disclosed due to German privacy laws. The defendants were detained last year in Germany and Switzerland.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office suspected the individuals of being part of a sabotage plan targeting transport routes, as reported by dpa. The presiding judge stated that the convicted man organized the shipment of two packages with GPS transmitters in Germany. The court determined he should have known this act could be used to spy on targets for sabotage purposes. The judge, citing dpa, indicated the defendant received orders through an intermediary from a Russian government agency.
Reports suggest a Russian intelligence service might have initiated the order through intermediaries from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, as per the Federal Prosecutor. Their aim was to gather information on the transport routes and procedures used in parcel delivery.
According to investigators, the accused planned to send packages containing devices that would activate during transit. The Federal Prosecutor stated those parcels aimed to ignite in Germany or elsewhere en route to Ukrainian areas not occupied by Russia. The intent was to cause maximum damage and undermine public safety.
The three men had plans to send the packages, supported by the prosecution, yet got discovered during their preparations. The court found no specific plans for sabotage activities. The sentenced individual already served his time during pretrial detention.
In a prior case in 2024, Western security officials suspected Russian intelligence of orchestrating a scheme to embed incendiary devices in packages bound for North America. This included one incident where a package ignited at a German sorting center and another at a warehouse in England.
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