Espionage arrest over drone flight at German weapons firm: prosecutors

MUNICH: A Moldovan man has been arrested on suspicion of espionage after a drone flew over a defense contractor’s facility in Munich and allegedly captured images of the site, prosecutors in Germany announced Friday.
The 37-year-old man allegedly flew the drone over the facility on Wednesday and is suspected of having “taken photographs and video recordings that are sensitive from a national security perspective,” the Munich public prosecutor’s office said.
Prosecutors suspect the man of planning to pass the images along to “a foreign entity or a banned organization.”
Police arrested the man near the sensitive weapons industry site after receiving a tip about suspicious activity from the public, prosecutors said.
He has been in custody since the arrest.
Authorities in Germany, one of Ukraine’s biggest military supporters, have uncovered numerous suspected espionage, sabotage and disinformation plots tied to Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
A number of Germany’s European NATO allies have also levelled similar accusations against Russia, sometimes describing the covert activity as part of a “hybrid war” against the West.
Germany and other European countries have also repeatedly observed instances of drones flying over sensitive sites such as airports, military bases, and power plants.
Moscow has routinely denied being behind any such plots.
Several defense industry players have facilities in Munich, including the Franco-German tank manufacturer KNDS, the European aerospace company Airbus Defense and Space, and the defense electronics specialist Hensoldt.
The Bavarian city is also home to a cluster of defense start-ups, such as drone maker Helsing.
In other cases German police have arrested a number of alleged so-called “disposable” agents, recruited to carry out sabotage and espionage without any formal training for Russia, often in exchange for small payments.
Berlin recently gave police and the military new powers to potentially shoot down unauthorized drones within German territory.
Lawmakers this year also passed new rules aimed at strengthening the “resilience” of critical infrastructure by identifying sensitive facilities and requiring operators to enhance security measures.