Russian weapons depot near Berlin: suspect arrested in Romania
German security services have discovered a weapons cache in Brandenburg, suspected of involvement by Russian secret services. A suspect has been arrested in Romania.
Weapons cache in Brandenburg linked to Russian services
German security authorities have uncovered a clandestine weapons depot located in a forest in Brandenburg, near Berlin. According to Cotidianul.ro, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) suspects that the depot was set up on the orders of Russian secret services. The information comes from broadcasters Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Süddeutsche Zeitung, which reported the case on Friday.
Two pistols were found in the cache. The Federal Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation on suspicion of preparation for serious crimes of a nature to endanger the security of the state. A suspect, possibly involved in setting up the depot, has been arrested in Romania.
GPS devices mounted on weapons, location monitored for a year
According to published information, German authorities received a tip about the cache and discovered it at the end of last summer. BfV agents mounted GPS tracking devices on the two pistols and rendered them non-functional, after which they monitored the location. No one approached the depot for a year. The BfV ultimately declared that the cache was "dead" and decided to release the information to the public.
German services are convinced that the weapons had been prepared for agents who were supposed to carry out, on Moscow's orders, so-called "kinetic operations" — that is, criminal attacks, including assassinations. Those involved in the alleged Russian operation are believed to have learned of the depot's discovery.
BfV warns for months of intensifying Russian activity
BfV president Sinan Selen has warned for months that Russian secret services have intensified their activities in Germany and are planning targeted attacks on German territory.
The Russian Embassy did not initially respond to media requests regarding the depot discovered near Berlin. Moscow has in the past rejected accusations of sabotage and espionage in countries allied with Ukraine, labelling them as "Western paranoia". However, in the context of an apparently last-minute thwarted attack with drones on a Ukrainian cargo aircraft at Leipzig, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated: "We will clearly intensify our methods to destroy everything that fuels Kiev's war machine from the West. And we are already doing this."
Precedent from the Cold War era
Clandestine weapons depots represent an old practice of Soviet services, used since the Cold War era. According to information provided by former KGB officer Vasili Mitrokhin, Moscow prepared weapons, explosives and communications equipment in West Germany in the event of a conflict with NATO, targeting military and railway infrastructure.
Source: Cotidianul.ro