German Spy Probe

Security forces recorded six flights by suspected drones over the Bundeswehr logistics base at Mechernich in North Rhine-Westphalia on the night of August 7, including one that circled police officers positioned on the ground, according to a confidential police report. The unmanned aircraft were preliminarily identified as Fly-380 VTOL models, capable of carrying payloads exceeding 10 kilograms over distances of up to 400 kilometres.

The base, a key logistics hub housing specialists who maintain U.S. Patriot air defence systems, handed the case to Euskirchen police, who opened an investigation.

The sightings came after an explosive-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian transport aircraft at Leipzig/Halle airport on August 5. The federal prosecutor's office has taken over the Leipzig investigation, with Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt declining to rule out foreign state involvement in what authorities are investigating as a suspected sabotage attempt possibly linked to Moscow.

Russian drones struck a German-owned cargo ship in the Black Sea off the coast of Odesa on Wednesday, sparking a fire and forcing the evacuation of its 11-person crew, while a separate attack on a grain carrier killed one crew member. The Liberia-flagged Emil, owned by Hamburg-based Johann M. K. Blumenthal GmbH & Co. KG, was approximately 21 nautical miles from Odesa when it was hit. All crew were safely evacuated, though the vessel lost maneuverability after sustaining multiple strikes.

The Russian defense ministry said it targeted two vessels carrying military matériel. The second ship, the Guinea-Bissau-flagged Mera Queen, was transporting Ukrainian wheat, according to Ukraine's port authority.

Separate Russian missile strikes also destroyed a Kyiv warehouse belonging to German lubricant manufacturer Liqui Moly, along with facilities linked to Puma and Bosch. The attacks came a day after a drone bomb was discovered at Leipzig airport.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin appointed Valery Solodzhuk as chief of rear services for the Russian armed forces and raised the military's authorized strength by 25,000 to 2.426 million.

Russia is weighing unconventional attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic states, likely using intercepted Ukrainian drones to stage a false-flag operation, Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas warned on Thursday. Kaunas called the scenario the most realistic threat currently facing the region, though he noted there is no immediate conventional military danger.

Lithuania has deployed armed forces to shield key sites, including the Klaipeda LNG terminal, the LitPol Link power interconnector with Poland, and the Kruonis hydroelectric plant. The heightened security measures will remain in place until at least 19 August, Polish media reported, citing officials. No specific targets or timeline for a potential operation have been identified, and Moscow has denied preparing any provocation.

Lithuania and other NATO allies have cautioned Russia against pursuing the scenario. The Baltic state has tripled its defence spending since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

German police have arrested a 33-year-old Ukrainian citizen on suspicion of spying on a weapons manufacturer in Bavaria, in a case authorities say underscores a new dimension of hybrid threats against the country.

The suspect was detained on Sunday in the eastern state of Thuringia and a Munich court issued an arrest warrant on Monday. Investigators believe he photographed the arms production facility in June and transmitted the images to a contact acting on behalf of a foreign intelligence service. He remains in pre-trial detention in a Bavarian prison.

The investigation was coordinated by Germany's newly established joint centre for countering hybrid threats, inaugurated in June. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt warned of an escalating threat landscape, pointing to the separate discovery of an explosive drone at Leipzig airport and suggesting a state actor could be behind it.