Man charged in Berlin with attempted arson attack on building housing Russian intelligence officers

BERLIN (AP) — Prosecutors in Berlin say a Russian citizen has been charged with attempted homicide and attempted arson for placing an explosive or incendiary device last year in a building where Russian intelligence officers lived. The 45-year-old is accused of putting the device in an opening to the building’s basement in late April 2022. It failed to ignite, for reasons that are unclear, and was discovered and defused only days later. Prosecutors said Monday that the suspect denies the accusations and claims to be the victim of a conspiracy by Russian intelligence agencies, but the investigation has produced no evidence of that.