Media: Russians are flying drones over US military cargo routes in Germany
Russia or its proxies are launching reconnaissance drones over routes used by the United States and its allies to transport military cargo through eastern Germany.
As reported by The New York Times, some US and other Western officials say the Russians are collecting intelligence that could support the Kremlin’s sabotage campaign and assist its troops in Ukraine.
US and German officials have been discussing Russian sabotage operations, including information that led to the arrest in May of three Ukrainians accused in a Russia-linked plot.
Moscow’s sabotage campaign has led to warehouse fires in the UK, an attack on a dam in Norway, attempts to cut cables under the Baltic Sea, and several other operations.
Experts and Western intelligence services note that after peaking in 2024, the number of Russian sabotage operations has dropped significantly this year, partly due to stricter security measures in Europe and intelligence efforts by the US and Europe to prevent attacks.
US intelligence agencies have been supplying European governments with warnings about potential sabotage plots. In one case, German intelligence received an alert about an attempt to plant explosive or incendiary devices on cargo planes flying over Germany.
The warning led to the arrest of three Ukrainian citizens in Germany and Switzerland. The federal prosecutor’s office in Berlin said at the time that the plot was likely part of a plan to damage logistics infrastructure used for commercial freight.
The devices were marked for destinations in Ukraine, but sources familiar with the matter said it was not clear if those were the targets or if the explosives were intended to be detonated on cargo planes while still in Germany.
Although Russian intelligence operations are increasingly constrained, Moscow retains the ability to recruit people to carry out attacks across Europe, Western officials say.
As a result, US and European military officials have grown increasingly concerned about drone flights in Germany.
The flights, concentrated in the eastern German state of Thuringia, have also been reported on by the German outlet WirtschaftsWoche, which has closely covered the sabotage campaign.
US officials confirmed the drone activity but said they could not trace its origin, though they believe the UAVs were flown by Russians or people working for Russian intelligence.
In February, German forces detected suspicious drones over a base where Ukrainian troops were being trained and investigated possible espionage.
In May, reports surfaced of unidentified drones circling a German police patrol vessel in the North Sea that was monitoring a Russian cargo ship.
In early July, there were reports that German authorities are beginning to acquire counter-drone systems to address UAV activity near critical sites.
In early August, it was reported that 536 drone flights had been recorded over critical facilities in Germany between January and March of this year.