German authorities suspect Russia was paying the man to pass on classified documents

German Federal police have arrested a 57-year-old British diplomat they suspect of spying on behalf of Russia. The man worked at the British embassy in Berlin.

German officials believe the man, who’ve they’ve identified only as ‘David S’, “passed on documents he acquired as part of his professional activities to a representative of Russian intelligence”.

“The accused received a cash payment in an unspecified amount in return,” they said in a statement. The prosecutors believe the man had been spying on behalf of Russia since November 2020 “at the latest”.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry said it was taking the case seriously

“We take the information that the detained person’s intelligence activity was carried out on behalf of a Russian intelligence agency extremely seriously,” said Heiko Maas, Germany’s foreign minister.

“Spying on a close ally on German soil is absolutely unacceptable and we are in full solidarity with our British friends,” he said.

“We will be following the federal prosecutors’ further investigations very closely. And where that’s desired, necessary and possible, we will also support them.”

The Russian Embassy in Berlin declined to comment on the case

The embassy “currently does not have any official information from the German side on this issue,” Interfax quoted the embassy’s spokespeople as saying.

The British government also declined to give many details on the case. A spokesperson said, “it would not be appropriate to comment further as there is an ongoing police investigation”.

“Primacy for the investigation remains with German authorities”. However, the statement also added that “officers from the Counter Terrorism Command continue to liaise with German counterparts as the investigation continues.”