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Germany Arrests 2 for Allegedly Planning Sabotage Plot on Behalf of Russia

17 April 2024, Ukraine, Chernihiv: Rescuers are seen at a destroyed building following a missile attack by the Russian army. Photo: Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
17 April 2024, Ukraine, Chernihiv: Rescuers are seen at a destroyed building following a missile attack by the Russian army. Photo: Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Germany Arrests 2 for Allegedly Planning Sabotage Plot on Behalf of Russia

17 April 2024, Ukraine, Chernihiv: Rescuers are seen at a destroyed building following a missile attack by the Russian army. Photo: Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
17 April 2024, Ukraine, Chernihiv: Rescuers are seen at a destroyed building following a missile attack by the Russian army. Photo: Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Two German-Russian nationals have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of espionage, one of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets including US military facilities in hopes of sabotaging aid for Ukraine, prosecutors said Thursday.

The two men, identified only as Dieter S. and Alexander J. in line with German privacy rules, were arrested Wednesday in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth, federal prosecutors said.

They said Dieter S. had been discussing possible acts of sabotage in Germany with a person linked to Russian intelligence since October, and that the main aim was to undermine military support given by Germany to Ukraine. The suspect declared himself willing to carry out bombing and arson attacks on infrastructure used by the military and industrial sites in Germany, prosecutors said in a statement.

According to Spiegel magazine, the facilities included the Grafenwoehr army base in the southern state of Bavaria where Ukrainian soldiers receive training to use US Abrams tanks.

Dieter S. gathered information on potential targets, including US military facilities, they added. Alexander J. allegedly helped him to do so starting in March at the latest, while Dieter S. scouted out some of the sites, took photos and videos of military goods and passed the information to his intelligence contact.

A judge on Wednesday ordered Dieter S. kept in custody pending a possible indictment.

Dieter S. also faces separate accusations of belonging to an armed unit of pro-Russian separatist forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine between December 2014 and September 2016.

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New Zealand Navy Ship Sinks Off Samoa

A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
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New Zealand Navy Ship Sinks Off Samoa

A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS

A Royal New Zealand Navy vessel ran aground and sank off Samoa but all 75 crew and passengers on board were safe, the New Zealand Defense Force said in a statement on Sunday.

Manawanui, the navy's specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu on Saturday night as it was conducting a reef survey, Commodore Shane Arndell, the maritime component commander of the New Zealand Defense Force, said in a statement.
Several vessels responded and assisted in rescuing the crew and passengers who had left the ship in lifeboats, Reuters quoted Arndell as saying.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon was also deployed to assist in the rescue.
The cause of the grounding was unknown and would need further investigation, New Zealand Defense Force said.
Video and photos published on local media showed the Manawanui, which cost the New Zealand government NZ$103 million in 2018, listing heavily and with plumes of thick grey smoke rising after it ran aground.
The vessel later capsized and was below the surface by 9 a.m. local time, New Zealand Defence Force said.
The agency said it was "working with authorities to understand the implications and minimise the environmental impacts.”
Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding told a press conference in Auckland that a plane would leave for Samoa on Sunday to bring the rescued crew and passengers back to New Zealand.
He said some of those rescued had suffered minor injuries, including from walking across a reef.
Defense Minister Judith Collins described the grounding as a "really challenging for everybody on board."
"I know that what has happened is going to take quite a bit of time to process," Collins told the press conference.
"I look forward to pinpointing the cause so that we can learn from it and avoid a repeat," she said, adding that an immediate focus was to salvage "what is left" of the vessel.
Rescue operations were coordinated by Samoan emergency services and Australian Defense personnel with the assistance of the New Zealand rescue center, according to a statement from Samoa Police, Prison and Corrections Service posted on Facebook.
Manawanui is used to conduct a range of specialist diving, salvage and survey tasks around New Zealand and across the South West Pacific.
New Zealand's Navy is already working at reduced capacity with three of its nine ships idle due to personnel shortages.