BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors announced terrorism charges Wednesday against a man who they say may have planned to attack the Israeli Embassy in Berlin and intended to join the Islamic State group in Pakistan.
The suspect, a Russian national identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested on Feb. 20 at the capital's airport as he prepared to board a flight. He has now been indicted on charges of supporting a foreign terrorist organization, attempted membership in such a group, and preparing a serious act of violence.
Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the suspect initially planned to carry out an attack in Germany, possibly on the Israeli Embassy. He allegedly found instructions for making explosives on the internet but was unable to pursue the plan because he couldn't get a hold of the necessary components.
At the same time, the suspect was allegedly translating propaganda into Russian and Chechen for IS. Prosecutors said he intended to join the group in Pakistan and get military training, and that he financed the trip by taking out two contracts for expensive smartphones, which he then sold.
He allegedly sent a video declaring loyalty to the group to a suspected IS member outside of Germany shortly before his departure.
The indictment was filed earlier this month to a court in Berlin, which will now have to decide whether to send the case to trial.
Police officers stand by the Israeli embassy in Berlin, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Paul Zinken/dpa via AP, File)
MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Moscow on Friday began considering a lawsuit filed by the central bank against Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house that holds the bulk of Russian assets frozen by the European Union.
The lawsuit seeks to recover 18.2 trillion rubles ($232 billion) in damages incurred when Russia was barred from managing and disposing of its Euroclear funds and securities, the bank said. The case is being heard behind closed doors.
The EU has frozen 210 billion euros ($244 billion) worth of Russian assets as part of the sanctions imposed on Moscow after it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Euroclear holds around 193 billion euros of the seized funds.
Moscow's Arbitration Court picked up the case even though the EU last month set aside its initial plan to use frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine after failing to convince Belgium that it would be protected from Russia's retaliation. The bloc opted instead for borrowing 90 billion euros on capital markers to provide an interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.
Russia's Central Bank has condemned the use of frozen assets to aid Ukraine as “illegal, contrary to international law,” arguing that they violated “the principles of sovereign immunity of assets.”
Participants gather in Moscow's Arbitration Court to hold a hearing to consider a lawsuit by Russia's Central Bank against Belgium-based financial clearinghouse Euroclear in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Participants gather in Moscow's Arbitration Court to hold a hearing to consider a lawsuit by Russia's Central Bank against Belgium-based financial clearinghouse Euroclear in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Participants gather in Moscow's Arbitration Court to hold a hearing to consider a lawsuit by Russia's Central Bank against the Euroclear Group in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Participants gather in Moscow's Arbitration Court to hold a hearing to consider a lawsuit by Russia's Central Bank against Belgium-based financial clearinghouse Euroclear in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
