Three men arrested in Frankfurt for allegedly spying on a Ukrainian linked to Russia

In June 2024, German authorities arrested three men in Frankfurt am Main on suspicion of spying on a Ukrainian man residing in Germany. The man, who uses several identities including M.S. and M.K., claims to have served as a Ukrainian military officer fighting Russian forces and appears in a controversial video showing the killing of Russian prisoners of war, which led to him being targeted as a war criminal by Russia, with a bounty on his head. German security agencies including the LKA, BfV, and BND coordinate investigations into the suspects, who were found with documents, cash, and a GPS tracker, but no weapons. The surveillance is considered by prosecutors as possible preparation for an assassination or kidnapping akin to the 2019 Berlin killing of a Chechen exile. The man reportedly fled Ukraine after being wounded and was resettled in Germany with a new Georgian passport. The case exposes modern espionage tactics by Russian intelligence on German soil and echoes concerns over Russia's covert hostile operations in Europe.