The two Bulgarian citizens arrested by the police in Munich after an attempted arson attack on a drone manufacturing plant were part of a network of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). This is what the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes, citing sources in the German security forces.
The arson attempt involved throwing "Molotov" cocktails from a moving car at a construction site of the technology companies Rohde & Schwarz and Helsing, "Focus" recalls. The latter supplies drones to the Ukrainian army. The fire was quickly extinguished, and the second device was neutralized. A man and a woman, aged 38 and 28, with Bulgarian identity documents, were arrested for the attack.
The authorities in Germany believe that the detainees were recruited "low-level agents". They estimate that the damage was minimal due to the amateur actions of the perpetrators. The same group had planned to set fire to the factory of the Ukrainian company Skyeton near Presov, which produces surveillance drones for Ukraine. This attack was foiled and on August 25, Latvian and Ukrainian citizens were detained in Slovakia, and another Latvian was arrested in Hamburg.
According to the newspaper, investigators are linking both the arson in Munich and the drone attack on Leipzig airport on August 4 to the GRU. German intelligence agencies believe that the operations are now being led by the government's Special Operations Service, which has built a logistics network across Europe.
The Leipzig group, according to the newspaper's sources, was led by GRU officer Denis Smolyaninov. The aim of the attacks is to cut off military supplies to Ukraine and force Europe to stop providing aid to Kiev. After the expulsion of Russian intelligence officers, the GRU, under diplomatic cover, recruited operatives via Telegram and paid them in cryptocurrency. The drone used in the attack on the Leipzig airport was hidden in an underground cache, FAZ also revealed.