A Russian scientist accused of spying for Moscow while working at a German university goes on trial Thursday, another source of friction in already frayed ties between the two countries. The accused, identified only as Ilnur N. by prosecutors, allegedly shared information about Europe's Ariane space rocket programme with Moscow, receiving 2,500 euros ($2,800) in cash in exchange. The case is the latest in a string of alleged Russian spies uncovered on German soil at a time of the worst tensions between Moscow and the West since the Cold War over President Vladimir Putin's troop build-up at the border with Ukraine. It reportedly led to the expulsion of a diplomat from Russia's consulate in Munich, after another two embassy personnel were declared persona non grata over the 2019 assassination -- allegedly ordered by Moscow -- of an ex-Chechen commander in a Berlin park. Prosecutors allege that Ilnur N. was working at an unnamed Bavarian university when he was contacted by Russian foreign intelligence service SVR in the autumn of 2019 at the latest. After agreeing to cooperate, he "passed on information on research projects in the field of aerospace technology, in particular the...