Germany arrests Ukrainian, Russian on spying charges

BERLIN: German prosecutors said on Friday they had arrested three men -- a Russian, a Ukrainian and an Armenian -- on suspicion of spying for a foreign intelligence service.

They were arrested in the western city of Frankfurt on Wednesday after allegedly trying “to gather information about a Ukrainian national”, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

The men were only identified as Robert A. from Ukraine, Vardges I. from Armenia and Russian citizen Arman S.

“The three suspects were acting on behalf of a foreign intelligence service in Germany,” the statement said.

On June 19 the trio “scouted a cafe in Frankfurt am Main where the target person was thought to be”, it added.

Prosecutors did not specify which foreign secret service the men were allegedly working for, and declined to comment further when contacted by AFP.