Germany investigates drone flights over military baseGermany investigates drone flights over military base

Unmanned aircraft were seen flying over two military installations in Bavaria. The incident comes at a time when the war between Russia and Ukraine has put the country on alert for espionage attempts.

(DW) German police said on Monday (13/01) that they are investigating recent incidents of drones flying over two military installations in the country. The incident comes at a time when the war in Ukraine has put Germany on alert for cases of espionage.

Police in the southern German state of Bavaria said they are investigating with prosecutors several incidents in which drones flew over military bases in Manching and Neuburg an der Donau. On Sunday, police officers spotted up to ten unmanned aircraft flying in a high-security military zone in Manching, over a base that houses a military airfield and where Airbus develops the Eurofighter jet.

Witnesses also saw several drones in the same location on December 16 and 18, as well as in the early hours of Christmas Day. On December 19, three drones were spotted in Neuburg an der Donau, also over a military air base.

The two sites are about 20 kilometers apart, south of the city of Ingolstadt.

Investigation still looking for culprits

The police said they had carried out “extensive investigations” into the incidents, including the use of helicopters, since “it cannot be ruled out that military installations and defense companies are being spied on in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”. However, it has not yet been determined who was controlling the drones.

The police have asked the public to forward any relevant information, including sightings of any “suspicious persons or vehicles” near the two sites. The incidents are being investigated as possible violations of the law that prohibits recording images that could pose security threats.

In May 2024, a Eurofighter jet was damaged after colliding with a drone while landing at Manching airfield. In recent months, several drones have also been spotted in an industrial zone near the North Sea and in the vicinity of an American air base in the town of Ramstein.

Espionage on the rise in Germany

Germany has been accumulating suspected cases of espionage on its territory, some of which have been uncovered in recent months, involving alleged Russian and Chinese agents.

In June last year, three men of Russian, Armenian and Ukrainian nationality were arrested in the country on suspicion of working for a foreign intelligence agency.

They allegedly traveled to Germany at the behest of a foreign secret service, with the mission of collecting information on a Ukrainian citizen living on German soil.

In April, three suspected spies working for China were arrested, accused of trying to obtain sensitive information on German military technology through a front company.

In the same month, a former captain in the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) admitted to a court that he had spied for Russia. He said that he provided information to Russian intelligence because he feared that nuclear tensions would escalate amid the war in Ukraine.

In October last year, a Chinese woman was arrested on charges of spying on defense industry facilities in Leipzig, on suspicion of being an agent of the Chinese secret services. She worked for a logistics company at Leipzig/Halle Airport.

The police also launched an investigation in December against a Chinese man who allegedly photographed a naval base on the Baltic Sea coast in northern Germany.

Warning from the intelligence services

The heads of Germany’s three intelligence agencies – the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) – warned in October of a “quantitative and qualitative” increase in Russian-sponsored acts of espionage and sabotage on German soil.

“We have observed aggressive behavior on the part of the Russian intelligence services,” said Thomas Haldenwang, head of the BfV, the country’s domestic intelligence service. He warned that such activities “have reached a new level in recent months, which should serve as a warning to everyone”.

rc/bl (AFP, DPA)

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