Ukraine weapons treason case throws light on Russian spy threat to Germany

General view of the courtroom with prosecutors Lars Malskies and Cai Rueffer and the judges at the start of the trial of the defendants Carsten L. and Arthur E. (both not in picture), accused of working together with a Russian businessman to "procure sensitive information" from the portfolio of Germany's BND foreign intelligence, in the courtroom in Berlin, Germany on December 13, 2023. ODD ANDERSEN/Pool via REUTERS

BERLIN (Reuters) - Russia paid a former soldier working for Germany's foreign intelligence agency (BND) at least 450,000 euros in return for information about weaponry with which the West was arming Ukraine, a court was told on Wednesday.

Prosecutors have charged Carsten Linke and his accomplice, a Russian-born German diamond trader named Arthur Eller in trial documents, with high treason in a case that shines an awkward spotlight on Germany's vulnerability to Russian espionage.