German prosecutors said Thursday that they charged a German-Russian man who fought with a pro-Moscow militia in eastern Ukraine with terror offenses and for threatening state security.
The suspect, identified only as Dieter S., was one of two men arrested in April on suspicion of planning attacks in Germany to undermine support for Ukraine, with targets including U.S. military bases.
The federal prosecutor’s office said Dieter S. was charged with “the preparation of a serious act of violence threatening state security,” but gave no further details of the nature of the alleged plot.
He was also charged with fighting in an armed unit of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2016, including in clashes at Donetsk airport and in the town of Marinka.
Prosecutors say the militia he belonged to “repeatedly used violence against the civilian population.”
At the time of his arrest in April, authorities said Dieter S. was “in contact with somebody connected to a Russian intelligence agency” and that he had been exchanging information since October 2023 with them about possible sabotage operations in Germany.
On Thursday, prosecutors said a separate investigation into possible charges over his “involvement in intelligence activities should be concluded soon.”
