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‘No question of Russian involvement’ in alleged German coup, says Kremlin

Among those arrested in Germany as an alleged plotter was a Russian citizen

David Harding
Wednesday 07 December 2022 07:50 EST
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A suspect, second right, is escorted from a police helicopter by officers for questioning at the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe
A suspect, second right, is escorted from a police helicopter by officers for questioning at the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe (AP)

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Russia has denied any involvement in an alleged coup in Germany.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the incident was nothing to do with them.

They were drawn to comment after German police carried out raids across the country and arrested 25 members of a group called the Reich Citizens movement. Officials in Berlin said they were looking into any possible link to Moscow involvement.

The group allegedly planned to storm the parliament building, the Reichstag, and seize power, said officials.

Among those arrested was a Russian citizen.

However, Moscow said there was no involvement whatsoever from Russia.

“This appears to be a German internal problem. There can be no question of any Russian interference,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The alleged coup comes at a particularly fraught time in European politics, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The war has pitted Europe’s main powers against Moscow and, significantly, led to Berlin re-evaluating its diplomatic and economic links with Russia, particularly in the field of energy.

Germany has also been criticised by Ukraine for what critics claim is its reluctance to get further involved in supplying military weapons and hardwareto Kyiv, a claim Berlin denies.

At a Berlin press conference on Wednesdayu, a spokesperson for Germany’s interior ministry said security forces were “looking very closely” at any possible contact between suspected plotters and Russia.

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