Ukrainian man sentenced to prison in Germany for parcel sabotage plot

A German court sentenced a Ukrainian man to imprisonment on espionage charges on Tuesday, finding him guilty of plotting arson attacks on behalf of Russia, but acquitted two other Ukrainian defendants.

The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court imposed a prison sentence of one year and three months. The presiding judge said the court was satisfied the man had arranged for two parcels containing GPS trackers to be sent within Germany, and that he must have been aware that the parcels could have been used to spy on targets for acts of sabotage.

The man could also have realized that he had received the order via an intermediary from a Russian state agency, the judge said.

Two other men who had packed and posted the parcels were acquitted. The convicted man does not have to serve any further time in prison, as his sentence has already been served during his pre-trial detention.

The three men, aged 22, 25 and 30, were arrested in May last year in Cologne and Konstanz in Germany and in the Swiss canton of Thurgau. They were accused of taking part in a sabotage plot targeting the transport network of a parcel delivery company. 

Prosecutors told the court that, on the orders of a Russian intelligence service, the men sent two packages containing GPS trackers to Ukraine via a Ukrainian postal service in March 2025 to gather information about the routes and transport procedures used by the parcel company. The intelligence service allegedly issued the order via intermediaries from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

According to prosecutors, the next step was for packages to be despatched containing incendiary devices that would ignite during transport. 

The packages were intended "to ignite in Germany or elsewhere en route to parts of Ukraine not occupied by Russia and cause as much damage as possible in order to undermine the population's sense of security," prosecutors said. They said the three men had agreed to send the parcels, but their plans were uncovered while they were still preparing the attacks. However, the court could find no evidence of concrete planning for acts of sabotage.

The prosecution had called for sentences ranging from two years and nine months to four years and three months, while the defence had argued for acquittal for all three.

The case recalls an incident in 2024, when an air-freight package caught fire at a DHL logistics centre in Leipzig. Security officials believe the package was planted there on behalf of Russia.

The president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution at the time, Thomas Haldenwang, said it was thanks to a stroke of luck that the parcel did not ignite during the flight.

Earlier this month, a drone equipped with explosives and a detonator was discovered at Leipzig airport near Ukrainian transport aircraft. Separately, an aircraft had collided with an unknown small flying object, which authorities believe could have been a second drone.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described the incident as a "hybrid attack by foreign powers." Public prosecutors are investigating on suspicion of attempted provocation of an explosion and dangerous interference with air traffic.