A reserve officer in the Bundeswehr, who is said to have worked as a spy for Russia for several years, has had to answer before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court since Thursday.

According to the Attorney General (GBA), this is a particularly serious case of secret service agent activity.

The GBA accuses the 65-year-old Ralph G. of having transmitted information and documents to the Russian military intelligence service GRU since the end of 2014 at the latest via high-ranking contacts, primarily in the Russian embassy in Berlin, to which he, on the one hand, as deputy head of the district liaison office Ennepe- Ruhr and on the other hand in civilian life as sales manager of a company belonging to an American group and as a member of several committees of the German economy.

Pure burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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In two interrogations, G. is said to have largely admitted that information was passed on.

G. is said to have acted out of "sympathy for Russia" and in return received no money but invitations to security conferences in Russia.

After the indictment had been read out, the accused had his defense counsel informed that he would only appear on the second day of the main hearing, which was planned for early September.

According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, G. gave the GRU a "comprehensive insight" into the German reservist system and provided his GRU contact persons - who officially worked as military attachés in the Russian embassy - with information about the working methods of the state and district liaison commands, organizational charts and documents such as Excerpts from the Department of Defense 2016 White Paper.

"He also passed on personal information and private contact details to several high-ranking members of the Bundeswehr," said federal prosecutor Gerd Kaiser.

According to the findings of the GBA, another focus of the first lieutenant's activity as an agent was the security and defense policy of the United States and its western partners in general.

Information to “make yourself interesting” for Russia?

In addition, the secret service agent activity was about Germany's economic involvement in Ukraine and the question of what effects the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West after the annexation of Crimea had on Germany and the EU.

"In one case, he also provided statements on the Nord Stream 2 project," says Kaiser.

Ralph G. acted against the interests of Germany and the United States.

The indictment gives the impression that G., who lives in Erkrath near Düsseldorf, was not recruited by the Russian side, but turned to the military attachés of his own accord and initially had to court attention.

G. tried to "make himself interesting" for the Russian side with his information and documents.

However, because his first attempts at contact did not go as he thought he would, he is said to have contacted the Russian Consulate General in Bonn in August 2018.