Arson attack in Munich: Trace leads to Russian secret service

An arson attack in Munich at the beginning of September could apparently be attributed to the Russian secret service. The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” claims to have learned this from security circles.

The incident: On September 3rd, incendiary devices were thrown from a moving car onto a construction site in the Bavarian capital, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the headquarters of the technology and defense companies Rohde & Schwarz and Helsing. The drone manufacturer Helsing supplies the Ukrainian armed forces.

If the suspicion is confirmed, this would be the second attack in Germany within a month - after the failed drone attack at Leipzig Airport on August 4th - for which the security authorities see Russia as the perpetrator.

Was the Russian military intelligence service GRU working with “low-level” agents?

In Munich, a fire was quickly extinguished and an incendiary device was defused. A man and a woman with Bulgarian nationality were arrested as suspects. They are considered recruited inexperienced helpers, so-called “low-level” agents. As in Leipzig, the security authorities see the Russian military intelligence service GRU behind the attack. The GRU team that planned the arson attack in Munich was also supposed to carry out acts of sabotage in Slovakia. But an arson attack there failed.

The GRU is considered a particularly effective weapon in Moscow's hybrid war against Western democracies. Security authorities hold them responsible for acts of sabotage in Germany, Poland, the Baltic countries and other EU countries. Explosives, incendiary devices or weapons are used.

The aim is to establish transport routes for military goods to Ukraine. According to experts from security circles, Germany and other European states should be persuaded to reduce or end their support for Kiev. In Leipzig, a drone loaded with explosives was supposed to destroy a Ukrainian Antonov transport plane.

In its actions, the GRU also uses means known from the Cold War era, such as dead mailboxes and underground hiding places. The drone used in Leipzig was also stored in a hiding place in the ground, as the FAZ learned from security circles.