German security authorities are investigating a weapons cache discovered in woods on the outskirts of Berlin last October, which they suspect was intended for targeted killings on behalf of Moscow, according to reports.
Germany's domestic intelligence agency became aware of the possible cache last year and, with the help of Berlin State police, located two handguns and ammunition. After rendering the weapons inoperable, the site was placed under surveillance for months, but no one was observed approaching it.
"This case demonstrates that we are operating under a high threat level," stated German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière. Prosecutors are reportedly investigating a suspect in Romania, who is being held in connection with planned parcel bomb attacks there, and this individual's potential connection is being considered regarding extradition.
The suspect was described as a "low-level agent," and their nationality was not disclosed. The minister also noted that several similar operatives, including one from Kazakhstan, had been detained this year.
This investigation follows previous allegations of Russian state-sponsored hostility on German soil. In 2024, German political figures reacted strongly to a report alleging that Russia had plotted to assassinate Armin Papperger, the head of Germany's largest arms company, Rheinmetall. Additionally, in 2021, a German court sentenced a Russian national, Vadim Krasikov, to life imprisonment for a murder in a Berlin park, ruling that the assassination had been ordered by Moscow. Krasikov was later released in a prisoner exchange.