Germany links arson attack near drone maker Helsing to Russia’s GRU military intelligence

German investigators suspect that Russia’s GRU military intelligence service was behind an arson attack near the Munich offices of defense companies Rohde & Schwarz and Helsing, as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Friday, citing unidentified security officials, according to The Kyiv Independent.

The attack took place on September 3, when several incendiary devices were thrown from a moving car onto a construction site near the headquarters of the two companies. No one was injured, material damage was minor and the fire was quickly extinguished, according to investigators.

Rohde & Schwarz operates in secure communications and defense technology, while Helsing develops artificial intelligence and pilotless systems and produces drones that Ukraine uses on the battlefield.

German police have detained two Bulgarian nationals — a 28-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man — suspected of being low-level operatives recruited by Russian services to carry out paid sabotage.

This is the second similar incident within a month: the GRU is also suspected of preparing an attack at Leipzig Airport in early August.

The incident comes amid a rising wave of suspected Russian sabotage across Europe. In early September, Denmark said Moscow was trying to recruit Danish citizens for sabotage against Danish defense companies, while in late August Slovak police detained three foreign nationals over a suspected plot to set fire to the Ukrainian Skyeton factory, which produces surveillance drones.