According to reports by dpa, the group’s alleged leader received a six-year prison sentence for espionage, planning acts of sabotage, and participating in paramilitary formations in eastern Ukraine. His two accomplices were given lighter sentences — six months and one year of probation, respectively.Prosecutors had sought eight years and eight months in prison for the main defendant and a one-year suspended sentence for each of the other two men. The defense, meanwhile, called for the acquittal of all three, who hold dual German-Russian citizenship.According to the court, between 2014 and 2016 the 41-year-old main defendant was a member of an armed terrorist group that fought against Ukrainian forces as part of a paramilitary unit in eastern Ukraine.In court, the man denied all charges, insisting that he had never taken part in military operations and was in a personal relationship at the time. He also rejected accusations that between October 2023 and April 2024 he had spied for Russia in Germany and plotted arson attacks or sabotage targeting military and railway infrastructure.Investigators allege that his two accomplices, also charged with espionage by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, had supported him in these plans in recent weeks.During the trial, all three defendants dismissed the espionage accusations, claiming their remarks about such activities had been made “as a joke.”The Federal Prosecutor’s Office, however, maintained that the main defendant had close connections to Russian intelligence services and that his accomplices knowingly chose to assist him.