Investigation: The assistant of the deputy of the Bundestag was suspected of cooperation with the FSB. He worked to disrupt aid to Ukraine

Author:
Sofiia Telishevska
Date:

Volodymyr Sergienko, an assistant member of the German parliament from the right-wing populist party "Alternative for Germany" of Eugen Schmidt, may have been connected to the Russian special services. An investigation by Der Spiegel magazine and The Insider portal claims that Sergienko was in close contact with an officer of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation.

It is noted that in August 2023, it became known how Sergienko discussed with the curator in Moscow the disruption of German military aid to Ukraine. Journalists assume that this contact person was FSB colonel Ilya Vechtomov.

In particular, Sergienko was behind the lawsuit of a group of AdN members to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany with the demand to declare illegal the supply of German weapons to Ukraine without the approval of the Bundestag.

Sergienko himself, who had only Ukrainian citizenship until 2022, denied in a Spiegel commentary that he is an agent of Kremlin influence. He called the speculation about his ties to Russia "groundless and not related to reality."

After Sergienkoʼs Russian passport was discovered, the Berlin prosecutorʼs office became interested in him. Sergiyenko hid this passport, and because of this, according to Spiegel, they want to deprive him of his German citizenship.

Also, access to the premises of the parliament was restricted to the AdN deputyʼs assistant.

In January 2023, Ukraine imposed sanctions against 198 Russian citizens, including Volodymyr Sergienko.

  • In August 2023, Der Spiegel and The Insider published an investigation that found the Kremlin funded the German far-right Alternative for Germany party.