A German-Ukrainian woman has been arrested in Berlin for spying for Russia, according to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, while two other individuals are being sought as her accomplices.
According to available information, Ilona V. (the arrested woman) is believed to have passed information about the war in Ukraine through an employee at the Russian embassy, who is suspected of being linked to his country’s intelligence services.
The woman’s communication with the Russian official has been confirmed at least since November 2023 and reportedly involved information about participants in high-profile cultural events, the locations of weapons production facilities, drone testing, and their shipments to Ukraine.
Ilona V. regularly communicated with former employees of the German Ministry of Defense’s Operations Department, whom she knew personally, while helping her contact at the Russian embassy gain access to events, using a pseudonym.
As part of the prosecutor’s operation, the arrested woman’s home in Brandenburg was searched, as well as the homes of the two other suspects in Munich and Rhineland-Palatinate.
The two men, who are evading arrest, are former members of the Bundeswehr—one a soldier and the other an administrative employee.
