Germany arrests Russian scientist

BERLIN: German police have arrested a Russian scientist working at a German university, accusing him of spying for Moscow, prosecutors said on Monday, in a case that risks further inflaming bilateral tensions.

Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the suspect, identified only as Ilnur N., had been taken into custody on Friday on suspicion of "working for a Russian secret service since early October 2020 at the latest".

Ilnur N. was employed as a research assistant at a natural sciences and technology department at the unnamed German university, prosecutors said. A spokeswoman from the University of Augsburg confirmed media reports to AFP that the suspect had been working there and that his workplace had been searched in the course of his arrest.