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Germany expels a Russian diplomat after a suspect is arrested in an espionage case

BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Thursday announced the expulsion of a Russian diplomat over a case in which a woman was arrested on suspicion of supplying information related to the war in Ukraine to an intelligence contact at Moscow’s embassy in Berlin.

The Foreign Ministry said in a social media post that “the German government doesn’t tolerate espionage in Germany, still less under the disguise of diplomatic status.” It said it summoned the Russian ambassador and told him it was expelling “the person in question who spied on behalf of Russia.”

The main suspect in the case, a German-Ukrainian dual citizen, was arrested in Berlin on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors said she had been in contact since at least November 2023 with a man at the Russian Embassy who worked for a Russian intelligence service.

They alleged that, on various occasions, she supplied him with information linked to the war in Ukraine. She allegedly helped with inquiries about defense industry locations, drone tests and planned drone deliveries to Ukraine, and turned to former employees in “the area of operations of the Defense Ministry” who were personal acquaintances.

The woman also occasionally helped her Russian Embassy contact visit political events in Berlin under aliases so that he could make contacts for Russian intelligence, prosecutors said.

The Defense Ministry said the investigation also involves two former German military employees, one of them a recently retired officer, who are suspected of disclosing information to the main suspect.

Ukraine’s drone strikes set a gloomy tone for Putin’s economic showcase

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — A massive black cloud rising above the St. Petersburg skyline from a Ukrainian drone strike set a gloomy tone for the opening of President Vladimir Putin's annual showcase of Russia's economic achievements. With Putin set to arrive Thursday in his hometown that is hosting the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Ukrainian attack a day earlier that set an oil terminal ablaze was another embarrassing blow to his efforts to minimize the impact of the 4-year-old conflict and cast it as a distant event with no effect on Russian daily life. The attack, which also targeted a naval base near Russia's second-largest city on the Gulf of Finland, underlined Ukraine’s growing capability to hit deep inside its neighbor and demonstrated that even the heavily protected city where Putin was born is increasingly vulnerable. Scores of flights were delayed or diverted at St. Petersburg’s airport and authorities cut cellphone internet service to try to prevent drone attacks.
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