Romanian citizen arrested for espionage in Germany
A Romanian citizen accused of espionage has been arrested in Germany, based on a warrant issued by the Federal Court of Justice in Rheine, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The German authorities have executed an arrest warrant issued by the Federal Court of Justice in Rheine (North Rhine-Westphalia), under which a Romanian citizen was arrested. We mention that, up to this moment, no requests for consular assistance have been registered at the level of the Consulate General of Romania in Bonn from the Romanian citizen concerned or from his family,” MAE specified in a press release.
The arrest is allegedly connected to a Russian-sponsored assassination attempt.
Earlier this week, Die Zeit announced that Russian secret services allegedly planned to assassinate Stefan Thumann, director of the German drone manufacturer Donaustahl. The attack was prevented thanks to the rapid reaction of the German security services, which had received a warning from the intelligence agencies of partner countries.
The publication reported that in the spring of this year, German police arrested two suspects in Spain and in North Rhine-Westphalia: a Ukrainian man, Serhii N., and a Romanian woman, Alla S. According to investigators, between December 2025 and March 2026, they surveilled Thumann near his residence, photographing and filming his home and the company headquarters. They also gathered information about him from open sources.
In December 2025, German intelligence services received information from a foreign partner agency indicating that Thumann was probably in danger. Shortly afterwards, Bavarian officers detained Serhii N., confiscated his mobile phones and copied large volumes of data. However, because of time constraints, they were unable to fully analyze the devices while he was in custody, and he was released.
Subsequent analyses indicated that he had probably been in contact with Russian intelligence services. Investigators also discovered possible attempts to spy on Thumann’s father in Starnberg, Bavaria, in order to find out where his son was located.
By then, however, Serhii N. had fled to Spain together with his family. Meanwhile, Alla S. continued to surveil Thumann in Germany.
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