On Monday (December 1, 2025), the trial of a 19-year-old Russian national of Chechen origin began at the Higher Regional Court in Berlin. He is accused of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in the German capital and supporting the terrorist group ISIS. According to the German Federal Prosecutor, the suspect faces charges of supporting a foreign terrorist organization and preparing a serious act of violence threatening the state. The court’s state security chamber has scheduled nine hearings, with a verdict expected on January 12, 2026. The defendant initially lived in a refugee center in Potsdam near Berlin. He was arrested in February 2025 at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport by the Federal Police and the Brandenburg State Criminal Police while attempting to board a plane. Prosecutors say he intended to travel to Pakistan to join ISIS and undergo military training. He has been held in pre-trial detention since then. The indictment states that since early February 2025, he had planned an attack in Germany against those he considered “infidels,” with the Israeli embassy as his chosen target. He obtained online instructions for making explosives but failed to carry them out due to lack of materials. In parallel, he allegedly translated ISIS propaganda materials into Russian and Chechen. On February 20, 2025, he went to Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, shortly after sending a video pledging allegiance to ISIS to a suspected member abroad.
Sources - Agencies
