A German officer accused of spying for Russia explained his actions by fear of nuclear war.

Spiegel reported on this.

At the trial in Düsseldorf, the 54-year-old Bundeswehr captain admitted that he had passed military information to the Russians.

The man said he took this step allegedly out of fear that the war in Ukraine would lead to nuclear escalation.

German media do not name the soldier, but note that the captain was responsible for electronic warfare systems.

The federal prosecutor’s office, while reading out the indictment, said that the officer’s goal was to “give the Russian armed forces an advantage against the background of the current political situation.”

The defendant claims that he hoped to find out in advance “when it will explode” through contacts with the Russian side in order to get his family to a safe place in case of a nuclear attack.

The officer says that he now regrets his actions and realizes that it was a mistake, but at the time, he was in a very bad psychological state.

He said that he had the idea to contact the Russian consulate after allegedly watching a video, “possibly on TikTok,” where he watched a pro-Russian influential TikTok user close to the far-right political party Alternative for Germany.

However, the defendant could not say for sure what kind of content it was.

Previously, alleged Russian agents who planned a series of sabotage at military facilities in the interests of Russian special services have been detained in Germany.

One of the saboteurs’ targets was transportation routes used to transport military cargo. The purpose of the planned attacks was to undermine German support for Ukraine.