Bulgaria: citizens detained in Munich belonged to the Russian GRU

Bulgarian citizens belonged to the Russian GRU

On the night of September 2-3, in the eastern part of Munich, where the headquarters of the Rohde & Schwarz and Helsing arms companies are located, two explosive charges were thrown from a moving car onto an adjacent construction site. The fire was quickly extinguished and the second load was neutralized.

The Rohde & Schwarz concern develops and produces, among others: radio and communication systems for government institutions and security services and for the Bundeswehr. In turn, the Helsing start-up founded in 2021 primarily produces drones.

The services detained two suspects, Bulgarian citizens: a 28-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man. According to information from "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", they belonged to the Russian military intelligence team GRU, which operated from Slovakia. As the daily reported, the German services are convinced that the detained Bulgarians are recruited so-called low-level agents.

"FAZ" reported that the same team allegedly carried out acts of sabotage also in Slovakia. Their target was the plant of the Ukrainian company Skyeton in Haniška near Prešov, which will produce drones for Ukraine from 2024. In August, the services detained the perpetrators before setting the fire. These are two Latvian citizens and one Ukrainian citizen.

The attempted attack on an arms company in Munich took place about a month after the failed attack attempt at the Leipzig airport, where a drone with a fuse and explosive material attached was found. It was supposed to explode near the Ukrainian An-124 transport plane. According to media reports, a full-time GRU officer, Denis Smoljaninov, is to be responsible for planning and executing this operation.

GRU network in Europe