A German court on Tuesday sentenced a 30-year-old Ukrainian man to 15 months in prison for acting as a Russian agent, finding he helped prepare firebomb attacks targeting a parcel delivery network. Two other Ukrainian co-defendants were acquitted for lack of evidence.
The Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart heard that in March 2025 the men shipped two packages containing GPS trackers and car parts from Cologne to Ukraine using the Ukrainian logistics firm Nova Post. Prosecutors said the scheme, directed by Russian intelligence through intermediaries in occupied Mariupol, was meant to map delivery routes and transit times so that subsequent parcels containing incendiary devices could be detonated during transport.
The convicted man was arrested in Switzerland's Thurgau canton in May 2025 and extradited to Germany in December. His two co-defendants were detained in Cologne and Konstanz. The 30-year-old was released after the verdict, having already served his sentence in pre-trial custody.