One year and three months in prison — this was the sentence given on August 18 by the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart to 30-year-old Ukrainian citizen Yevhen B. He was found guilty of espionage for Russia with the aim of sabotage: the man organized the sending of packages with GPS trackers so that the Russian intelligence service could track logistics routes to Ukraine.
Formally, he will not return to prison. The court credited the time spent in pre-trial detention toward the sentence: Yevhen B. was detained in Switzerland back in May 2025 and extradited to Germany in December of the same year. So after the verdict was announced, the man was released, reports HNonline citing AFP.
What exactly he did
According to the prosecution, in March 2025 Yevhen B. organized the sending of two packages from Germany to Ukraine. Inside were GPS trackers, and the order came from the Russian intelligence service through intermediaries from occupied Mariupol.
The packages with trackers were only reconnaissance before the main operation. They wanted to study the logistics routes of the Ukrainian postal service through them, and later send packages with incendiary or explosive devices along the same routes. These were supposed to detonate either on German territory or on the way to non-occupied territories of Ukraine, to cause maximum damage and disrupt infrastructure. The men were exposed before the plan was carried out, writes The Kyiv Independent.
Why two others were acquitted
Along with Yevhen B., two other Ukrainians were on trial — 22-year-old Vladyslav T. and 25-year-old Daniil B. Both were fully acquitted by the court.
The prosecution failed to prove that they knowingly participated in preparing the sabotage and knew the final goal of the operation. The whole trio was detained in May 2025 in Germany and Switzerland, but for the court this was not enough: participation in sending packages alone does not prove conscious cooperation with the intelligence service.
There is a nuance here that concerns not only the acquitted. You can end up in a criminal sabotage case simply by agreeing to "deliver a package" or perform a small task for money.
Moscow recruits Ukrainians across Europe
The Stuttgart verdict is not isolated. Western intelligence services have recently regularly warned about an increase in hybrid operations coordinated by Moscow across Europe. For such tasks, Russian intelligence services often recruit Ukrainian citizens, offering financial rewards or using coercion.
For example, in early August at Leipzig/Halle airport near a Ukrainian cargo plane with ammunition, a drone with explosives was found. According to media reports, American intelligence suspects the drone belonged to Moscow.
What to keep in mind
If you live in Slovakia or another EU country, there is one rule: do not agree to send, transport, or receive packages at the request of strangers, especially for money and especially if the "customer" communicates via messengers and does not identify themselves. Such "side jobs" can end with charges of sabotage, even if you did not know what was inside.
If you are offered suspicious earnings of this type or someone is interested in logistics, addresses, or routes, report it to the police of the country where you are. In Slovakia, this is the single European number 112 or the police line 158. The German verdict shows that law enforcement tracks such schemes and holds those involved accountable. Whether it was conscious cooperation will be decided by the court.
