Germany charges man with spying for Russia

BERLIN (AA) – A German man has been charged with espionage for passing information about the German parliament’s floor plans to Russian intelligence, authorities said on Thursday.

The man, identified only as Jens F., worked for a company responsible for inspections of electrical devices in the parliament, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

He is accused of sending PDF files of the parliament’s floor plans to an employee at the Russian Embassy in Berlin.

The man accessed the plans in 2017, downloaded them to an electronic disk, and sent them to the Russian Embassy employee, who was a member of Russia’s military intelligence service GRU, according to prosecutors.

The accused will be tried for espionage in the Higher Regional Court of Berlin, the statement said.