Mother of 18-year-old charged with espionage: 'It's a terrible misunderstanding'

In Latvia, a Ukrainian woman is sitting, deeply worried about her son.

Nearly 2,000 kilometers away – in Denmark – he has been charged with espionage. But he never intended to act as a spy.

That is what his mother is certain of.

“I believe a terrible misunderstanding has occurred. My son came to Aalborg to visit a friend and could never have imagined that he would end up in such a situation,” she says in writing via the Telegram messaging service.

“He is very upset, and as a mother it breaks my heart to know what he is going through.”

DR is not naming the woman, as a publication ban applies in the case against her adult son.

-------------------------------------

Post about free items led to photos

-------------------------------------

On Wednesday, DR was able to report that two Ukrainian men, aged 18 and 21, responded to a Telegram post offering a free Sony TV and a microwave oven ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/opslag-i-ukraine-gruppe-lovede-gratis-mikroovn-og-tv-nu-er-unge-maend-sigtet-spionage ), as they headed to an address in Aalborg.

According to the charge against the two men, they ended up spying for a Russian intelligence service by taking photographs of the defence company MyDefence, which were then forwarded on Telegram.

------------------

What DR did

------------------

DR has not had telephone or visual contact with the mother of the 18-year-old, but has only communicated with her in writing, in Ukrainian.

The woman has been able to provide her son’s name – and details about the case – that have not been publicly known.

According to DR’s information from several sources, it is correct that the 18-year-old’s mother is in Latvia, and according to DR’s information, it is also correct that the two have spoken after the son’s arrest.

DR can see that the woman, already on Tuesday morning – half a day before the public learned of the espionage case – was asking for help on what to do to get in contact with her son, who had suddenly disappeared.

DR has not been able to verify her full account of her son’s situation in his home country, and that he was only in Aalborg to visit a friend. However, it has previously been reported that the two young men had only been in Denmark briefly.

Both deny the charges.

And the 18-year-old’s mother also hopes that what the two men believed at the time of the act will be presented:

“There is evidence that, in my opinion, clearly shows that the young men are innocent and had no idea what they were being pulled into,” she writes in a message.

“I sincerely hope that all the evidence will be thoroughly examined and taken into account in the case.”

Read also: PET reveals concrete plans for Russian sabotage in Denmark ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/pet-afsloerer-konkrete-planer-russisk-sabotage-i-danmark )

----------------------------

Hopes the ‘nightmare’ will end

----------------------------

Even before the public learned of the case against the two espionage suspects, the mother in Latvia was convinced that something had happened to her son. She could not reach him as usual:

“He (the son, ed.) wrote to me that he went out after seeing the announcement where they were giving away a television and a microwave oven. I am 100 million percent sure that it is some kind of trap,” she wrote in a large Telegram group.

In this group, Ukrainians across the country share information with each other about life in Denmark.

The mother also described in the group that her Russian-speaking son has experienced horrors because of the war in their home country and has now started writing poems in Ukrainian. In other words, in her view, he could never act as a “Russian spy”.

After several calls to Danish police, the woman has had telephone contact with her son, she now tells DR:

“I have finally managed to talk to him. Fortunately, he is safe and doing well, even though he is still in custody.”

“Right now, my greatest wish is for my son to be released, and for this nightmare to end.”

>

> Right now, my greatest wish is for my son to be finally released, that all

> charges against him be dropped, and that this nightmare will end.

>

------------------------

Decision due today

------------------------

The 21-year-old’s defence lawyer, Rasmus Amandusson, said after a custody hearing at the Court in Aalborg on Tuesday evening that his client is also deeply affected by the case, because the charge is so serious.

The two young men had their arrest upheld for three days.

This means the court gave the police more time to gather evidence before a final decision is made on whether to place them in pre-trial detention.

So no later than today, the police must either release the two young men or bring them before a judge again.

Tuesday’s custody hearing was held behind closed doors, which is why the public is not aware of the evidence in the case.

Both PET and Minister of Justice Nicolai Wammen have warned about adverts and posts on social media that offer money or other rewards for carrying out “small tasks” such as taking photographs and similar of defence companies, infrastructure, or the like.

You may end up doing the Russians’ bidding, the warning goes.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.