Former German soldier admits spying for Russia as trial opens

A GERMAN former soldier has admitted that he had spied for Russia at the start of his trial, saying he wanted to avoid the escalation of the war in Ukraine.

“It was wrong,” said the defendant, named only as Thomas H, who is at the centre of one of several espionage cases uncovered in Germany since Russia’s war on Ukraine started in February 2022.

The 54-year-old is accused of passing on information from his post in the military procurement service.

Prosecutors say he photographed old training documents related to munitions systems and aircraft technology and dropped the material into the letterbox of the Russian consulate in Bonn.

The defendant “approached the Russian general consulate in Bonn and the Russian embassy in Berlin and offered his co-operation” in May 2023, prosecutors said.

“He passed on information he had obtained in the course of his professional activities for it to be passed on to a Russian intelligence service.”

The defendant said the accusations against him were “broadly” accurate. He contested a claim by prosecutors that he transferred information to the Russian consulate on a CD.

Instead, he said, the documents had been printed and contained “nothing bad”.

The information was intended to confirm his status as a soldier, he added.

Thomas H said his concern about a possible escalation in the war in Ukraine led him to reach out to the Russian side.

More precisely, he was worried about the possibility that deliveries of heavy weapons systems by Berlin to Ukraine would draw Germany into the conflict.

The risk has been cited by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in recent months as a reason for not sending longerrange missiles which Ukraine could use to strike targets within Russia itself.

The former soldier’s aim was to obtain information before a possible nuclear escalation in the conflict to bring his family to safety in time, he said.

The apocalyptic concern was the reason he landed on the “stupid idea” to reach out to Russian authorities.

Thomas H also indicated he had become dissatisfied with the government in Berlin and a perceived lack of concern for the safety of German citizens.

Media reports following his arrest suggested Thomas H had access to sensitive information as the department he worked in counted among its tasks the procurement of modern systems for electronic warfare.

These included technology for the surveillance and disruption of opponents’ radio systems and the shutting down of enemy radio or airshield systems.

Germany’s domestic security agency, the BfV, warned last year of the risk of an “aggressive Russian espionage operation” against the backdrop of soaring tensions between the West and Moscow. |