Suspected Russian Spy Arrested in Brandenburg – He Allegedly Targeted Tank and Ammunition Makers

He lived in a quiet steel town on the Oder, a stone’s throw from Poland. On Thursday, officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office came for him.

Germany’s Federal Prosecutor General says Vadym Y., a Ukrainian citizen, was arrested in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg on a warrant issued on 15 October by an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice. Local media report that he lives in Eisenhüttenstadt. He is strongly suspected of working for a foreign intelligence service.

“Einige der Informationen waren öffentlich zugänglich, für andere schöpfte der Beschuldigte gezielt Personen aus der europäischen Rüstungsbranche ab.”

“Some of the information was publicly available; for other parts, the accused deliberately pumped people in the European defence industry.”

— Federal Prosecutor General (Generalbundesanwalt), press release of 22 October 2026

Tanks, munitions and NATO’s eastern flank

According to the warrant, Y. was in contact with a Russian intelligence service through a middleman from July 2025 at the latest. Against the backdrop of Russia’s war on Ukraine, he allegedly collected militarily relevant information from Germany – on the production of armoured vehicles, ammunition and explosives, and on personnel and military sites protecting NATO’s eastern flank.

Der Spiegel reports that he was also interested in the Bundeswehr’s Panzerbrigade 45, the brigade Germany is stationing in Lithuania. The case started with a tip from the domestic intelligence service, the BfV, and the BKA is running the investigation.

The arrest is the latest in a string of Russian espionage and sabotage cases in Germany, several involving recruits who are not Russian citizens.