Putin's disposable agent from Thurgau: convicted spy back in Switzerland
Yevhen B. was sentenced to 14 months in Stuttgart for espionage – the sentence is considered served. Whether he may remain in Switzerland remains uncertain.
Convicted Kremlin spy living again in Tägerwilen – authorities remain silent
Pink flowers at the entrance, blinds down, no comment: Yevhen B. (30) is back in his flat in Tägerwilen, Canton Thurgau. Blick tracked him down there and spoke to him briefly – just days after the Stuttgart Court of Appeal found him guilty of espionage for purposes of sabotage.
The verdict: one year and three months' imprisonment. The sentence is considered fully served – through the time B. spent in deportation and remand custody. The proceedings lasted 22 days, with 29 witnesses examined. The verdict can still be appealed to the Federal Court of Justice.
Recruited for 200 dollars
The Russian intelligence service recruited B. via the Telegram messenger service. A man named Gleb – a former school classmate from Mariupol, now under Russian occupation – offered him 200 dollars for a task. The Stuttgart court is convinced that Gleb acted as an intermediary for a "state Russian body".
B. accepted the deal. In March 2025, he obtained two GPS trackers, a car headlight and an air filter in Switzerland, packed everything in a rucksack and crossed the border into Konstanz on 24 March. In a McDonald's branch there, he handed over the items to another Ukrainian: Daniil B.
The latter packaged the car parts and GPS transmitters into two boxes and sent them on 26 March to Cologne to Wladyslaw T., also Ukrainian. From there, the packages eventually reached Ukraine via Nova Post, to the cities of Poltava and Khmelnytskyi.
Sabotage suspicion not proven
Monitoring the transport routes of the Ukrainian delivery service Nova Post was the stated objective. However, the German Federal Prosecutor's Office suspected more: the three Ukrainians were supposed to equip the packages in a second step with incendiary material and explosives and detonate them at vulnerable points.
The court ruled this accusation as unproven. The prosecution relied substantially on Telegram chats – but most of the messages had been deleted when authorities confiscated the smartphones. Daniil B. and Wladyslaw T. were acquitted; it could not be proven that they knew about the contractors or the actual sabotage target.
Only Yevhen B., in the judges' view, should have known that he was acting on behalf of Russian bodies and that reconnaissance of shipping routes could be misused for sabotage purposes. Additionally, he had recruited the other two Ukrainians and conspiratorially attempted to cover his tracks.
First known "disposable agent" from Switzerland
His case is a precedent: according to Blick, Yevhen B. is the first publicly known suspected disposable agent from Switzerland. Russian intelligence services deliberately recruit such agents online – without years of training, without integration into regular intelligence service structures. They sabotage, vandalize and spread disinformation using simple means. When one is discovered, two more are already recruited.
The case also shows how difficult it is for investigators to expose such agents. Often the perpetrators themselves do not know that they are ultimately working for a foreign intelligence service. Russian services insert intermediaries and operate behind the anonymity of digital communication.
Authorities unwilling to comment
Yevhen B. originally fled to Switzerland as a protected person from Ukraine. His case now presents the authorities with specific legal questions: must his Status S be revoked? May he remain in Switzerland at all?
Swiss asylum law provides that protected status can be withdrawn if a person "has violated or endangered the internal or external security of Switzerland or has committed reprehensible acts". However, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is unwilling to comment on Yevhen B. and refers to data and personal protection.
The Thurgau Migration Office, which could revoke cantonal residence permits, also provides no statement. The Swiss intelligence service (NDB) does not comment on specific cases as a matter of principle.
Neighbourhood reacts calmly
When Blick encounters B. at his flat door in Tägerwilen, the former boxer – visibly well-trained – opens the door without a shirt. Asked whether he must leave Switzerland, he answers calmly: "I don't know." He answers further questions only with "no comment" before politely taking his leave.
The return of the convicted spy provokes little excitement in his neighbourhood. One person says: "As long as he hasn't killed anyone … he can spy as much as he wants." Another reports that B. had behaved inconspicuously before his arrest, worked for a handyman and diligently learnt German. "He seemed to be integrating well."
Whether he continues to pose a threat or whether his work for the Kremlin was a one-off slip remains unclear for now – as does his future residential status in Switzerland.
Names partially abbreviated.
Source: Blick