BERLIN — German police have arrested three people accused of working for Russian intelligence to plan bomb attacks inside Germany. 

The suspects, two men and one woman, were detained in separate operations in the western city of Cologne, the southern city of Konstanz and in Switzerland. All three are Ukrainian nationals and are being held on suspicion of espionage and preparing acts of sabotage. 

According to federal prosecutors, the group allegedly planned to send parcel bombs designed to explode during shipment — a tactic aimed at creating public fear and undermining trust in Germany’s infrastructure.

At a press conference Wednesday, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul directly blamed the Russian government for the plot. “The individuals had agreed, no later than the end of March 2025, to carry out arson and bomb attacks on freight transport in Germany — acting on behalf of Russian state authorities,” he said. 

Reul called it “an extraordinary event” and warned that the case marks “a new level of hybrid threats here in North Rhine-Westphalia, but also across Germany.”

Reul emphasized that Russian intelligence services are now acting “more aggressively” and taking greater risks in their operations. “They no longer need trained agents of the old school,” he said. “So-called low-level agents — recruited for little money — are now enough.”

He added that Russia’s targets include not only government institutions, but also “critical infrastructure, private businesses, and individual citizens.”

Authorities believe the group tested the plot by sending packages with GPS trackers and intended to use thermite — a highly flammable chemical that burns at extremely high temperatures — as the main incendiary material. Their plans reportedly resembled a July 2024 incident at an airport in the eastern city of Leipzig, where a parcel caught fire during shipment.

The arrests followed a months-long investigation involving domestic intelligence services, federal and regional police, and state security authorities. The main suspect, Vladyslav T., had allegedly been living covertly in Cologne. Surveillance of him led authorities to his partner, Lolita K., and to Daniil B., who was living in a refugee center in Konstanz.

All three were arrested at or near their residences. Several electronic devices were seized, and a fourth person is being investigated abroad. None of the suspects were previously known to law enforcement.