A lieutenant colonel in the German reserves stands accused of sending secrets to “Russian spies out of sympathy” and faces a hefty prison sentence.
The German Federal Prosecution said on the first day of the trial that Ralph G, 65, gave his Russian handlers sensitive information of the operational abilities of the German Army.
If he is found guilty over “serious intelligence activity” he will face a 10-year prison sentence.
He has been accused of handing to Russian spies private contact details of senior army officials, secret passages of defence white paper, along with open source intelligence (OSINT).
During the trial in Dusseldorf prosecutors said that they had found no evidence he was paid any money for “sending army secrets to Russian spies.”
The prosecutors believe that the colonel was motivated by “sympathy for the Russian Federation” and to “make himself interesting” to the Kremlin.
Raplh came to the attention of the German spy agencies after he was found to have attended a few Russian events as a guest.
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