Former German army officer admits to spying for Russia immediately after invasion of Ukraine

A former German army officer admitted on Monday that he spied for Russia, explaining his deed by the desire to avoid a nuclear escalation in the war in Ukraine, on the first day of his trial, informs Agerpres. The one whom the Federal Prosecutor’s Office designates simply as Thomas H., 54 years old, admitted in front of the Dusseldorf court that he had transmitted information to the Russian consulate in Bonn.

“It was bad, I take it,” he told the judge.

The man was working at that time, with the rank of captain, in the main IT and logistics service of the Bundeswehr, also in charge of managing military equipment.

This department, which has around 12,000 employees, has faced a considerable increase in its activity since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Germany becoming the second provider of military aid to Kiev, after the US.

Thomas H. was arrested in August 2023 in the city of Koblenz.

In May 2023, the suspect “approached the Russian Consulate General in Bonn and the Russian Embassy in Berlin and offered his cooperation,” according to the indictment of the Prosecutor’s Office, read out at the beginning of the hearing.

He would have photographed, apart from computer files, older documents regarding the use of munitions and aeronautical technique.

He later deposited these documents in a mailbox at the consulate in Bonn, along with his contact details, and allegedly proposed to procure others. In the absence of a response, he would then make further contacts.

The accused admitted that he offered his services as a spy, but contested that he handed over a CD with sensitive technical data, as the Prosecutor’s Office accuses him.

There was “nothing serious” in the information provided, he said, stressing that he simply wanted to prove his status as a Bundeswehr soldier.

The former officer, who at that time had also contacted the far-right party AfD, to which he asked to join, explained his act by his fear of a nuclear escalation in the war against Ukraine.

In Germany, both the extreme right and the extreme left denounce the delivery of heavy weapons by Germany to Ukraine, in order for it to defend itself against the Russians. The accused said that he primarily wanted to protect his family.

Thus, he would have had the “stupid idea”, as he put it, to address the Russian consulate, expressing his growing dissatisfaction with Olaf Scholz’s German government.

Thomas H., who clearly distanced himself from his actions, assured, among other things, that he suffered at that time from concentration and sleep problems. He linked these issues to workplace overwork and what he says were side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines.

He claimed he had entered a “vicious circle”.

The hearings would last until the end of June. The former captain faces up to ten years in prison.

Last year, the German domestic intelligence service (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND) warned against an intensification of espionage for Russia after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine.