Stuttgart, Feb 23, (dpa/GNA) – Three Ukrainian nationals accused of planning a parcel bombing plot on behalf of Russian intelligence, are set to stand trial in Germany from March 17, the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court said on Monday.
The three men aged 22, 25 and 30, were arrested at separate locations in Germany and Switzerland in May. They are accused of having sent parcels containing GPS tracking devices from Cologne to Ukraine, to test potential routes ahead of the planned attacks.
Federal prosecutors in Karlsruhe said the plan was to mail packages containing explosive devices, that “ignite in Germany or elsewhere on their way to parts of Ukraine not occupied by Russia” to cause “as much damage as possible in order to undermine the population’s sense of security.”
Two of the suspects arrested in Germany were charged in January with acting as secret agents, acting as agents for the purpose of sabotage and conspiring to commit aggravated arson.
The third suspect was arrested in Switzerland and extradited to Germany in December, where all three men are in pre-trial detention.
Prosecutors believe the man received the order for testing potential attack routes from a Russian intelligence service, via intermediaries in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to the charges brought at the Stuttgart court.
He then recruited the other two men and procured the GPS trackers and other materials. “He also promised his contacts in the Russian intelligence service that he would also take care of sending packages containing incendiary devices,” according to the indictment.
The court has scheduled over 30 trial dates until the end of September. Proceedings are to take place under heavy security.
GNA