The case underscores the kinds of threats Western countries, including Germany and other EU states, see coming from Russia — and how closely suspected agents can get to German politicians.
A Ukrainian government press photo from an economic event in Berlin in December shows President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seated beside Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Two rows behind them sits a woman who has since been exposed as a suspected Russian spy.
The German government had convened numerous European leaders in Berlin to discuss possible ways to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. On January 21, 2026, authorities arrested German-Ukrainian Ilona W.*. Federal prosecutors say she had been in contact with an employee of the Russian embassy since at least November 2023 and on multiple occasions provided him with information relating, among other things, to the war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
Prosecutors allege Ilona W. gathered information about participants in “high-profile political events” and passed on details about locations connected to the German arms industry, drone tests and planned drone deliveries to Ukraine. She had acted as a kind of lobbyist in political circles in Berlin, was energetic and had access to many senior events, as the December photograph shows.
According to reporting that includes ARD’s Berlin studio, Ilona W. served as chairwoman of a “federal organization” based in Berlin that describes itself as an umbrella for binational associations promoting international understanding. A former Social Democratic Party (SPD) lawmaker is said to sit on the organization’s board of trustees.
Investigators are also looking into two former Bundeswehr members who knew the accused personally and are suspected of having passed official information to her. It is unclear whether they knew the information was allegedly destined for Russian intelligence. The Defense Ministry says one is a recently retired senior officer and the other a senior civil servant who left the armed forces more than 15 years ago.
Berlin summoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechayev and informed him that one of the embassy’s diplomatically accredited employees had been engaged in espionage and must leave the country. German officials said the man — reported by dpa to be the deputy military attaché — may have been the accused’s contact. The Foreign Office told the ambassador that espionage activities in Germany would not be tolerated and would have consequences. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, speaking on a trip to Africa, said, “We are watching very closely what Russia is doing, and we are taking action against it.”
The Russian embassy dismissed the allegations as a “ridiculous, hastily cobbled together provocation,” telling AFP the accusations were meant to discredit the mission amid what it called “spy hysteria actively cultivated in Germany.” It warned that Berlin’s “unfriendly actions will not go unanswered.”
German authorities and experts have been increasingly monitoring Russian intelligence activity in the country. Bundeswehr barracks and weapons transport routes supporting Ukraine have been under surveillance, and investigators say the scale of Russian espionage in Germany has again reached levels comparable to the Cold War era before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
A May report from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned that Russia has become less hesitant to act against Germany and that a rise in incidents across Europe — including publicly visible ones — shows Moscow sees use of force as a legitimate tool.
Chancellor Merz commented late last September at a Rheinische Post event on the extent of Russian activity, saying: “I want to say it in one sentence, which may sound a little shocking at first, but I mean exactly what I say: We are not at war, but we are also no longer at peace.” He was referring in part to drone flights observed over Denmark and Germany’s northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, which investigators assessed were most likely Russian.
*full name is withheld in compliance with German privacy laws
This article was originally written in German.
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