Spying camera found at German rail hub triggers sabotage probe

German prosecutors have launched an espionage investigation after discovering a hidden camera at a key western rail hub used for Ukraine-bound military transports, suspecting preparations for sabotage.

Public broadcasters WDR and NDR reported on Tuesday that authorities identified a suspect, a Lithuanian national believed to have installed the camera at Minden train station, a key loading point for German and British forces and an important hub supporting NATO’s eastern flank.

On Tuesday morning, investigators searched the home of a suspect in Detmold, the prosecutor’s office confirmed. Authorities suspect the hidden camera was used to monitor Ukraine-linked military rail transports, possibly as part of a planned sabotage, the reports said.

The camera was found in September after an employee of German rail company DB spotted it by chance, the outlets said. The small black device, mounted about 5 meters up a pole, bore a fake DB sticker. Equipped with a solar panel, a foreign SIM card for live feeds, night vision, and storage for recordings, it was aimed at a shunting area that handles military trains, security sources told the broadcasters.

Investigators are said to have not yet found evidence of who commissioned the installation of the hidden camera at the station. Authorities suspect Russian intelligence services may be behind it, the broadcasters reported.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has long warned that Moscow is increasingly relying not only on professional spies, but also on recruited informants and would-be saboteurs with no intelligence background.