A German court has sentenced a 30-year-old Ukrainian man to one year and three months in prison over a Russian plot to carry out acts of sabotage.

Two other Ukrainian men, aged 22 and 25, were acquitted.

The higher regional court in the city of Stuttgart said the three were involved in sending packages with GPS trackers from Germany to Ukraine using a Ukrainian parcel service.

According to prosecutors, the aim was to reveal the precise transport routes and pass the information on to Russian secret services.

In a second step, prosecutors said the men were planning to dispatch packages designed "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." 

However, the plan was discovered before it could be implemented.

Spying for the purpose of sabotage

The three men were arrested in May last year. 

The 30-year-old who was given jail time "intentionally participated in scouting potential sabotage targets for a Russian state entity," the court said.

He was found guilty of "spying for the purposes of sabotage."

The court said he involved the other two defendants in the shipment of GPS trackers. However, it could not be proven that those two suspects knew their actions were part of a sabotage plot.

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

Both ​the convicted defendant and the prosecutors have the right to appeal.

Why might Germany be a target?

Germany is Ukraine's most important supporter in the war with Russia and has been on high alert for suspected sabotage and spying operations coordinated by Moscow.

In a previous case, a series of exploding parcels were shipped from Lithuania in 2024 and detonated in Germany, Poland and Britain. Security sources blamed Russia, although Moscow has denied involvement in such operations.

Earlier this month, a drone equipped with explosives and a detonator was discovered near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft at eastern Germany's Leipzig Airport, a key military equipment hub.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described it as a "hybrid" attack by a "foreign power" but did not name Russia. Moscow has dismissed suggestions that it was responsible.

Edited by:  Saim Dušan Inayatullah

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