German investigators link GRU to Munich arson attack near defense firms

German investigators believe the Main Directorate of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces, known as the GRU, organized a September 3 attack on defense companies in Munich, according to a report by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

On the night of September 2-3, incendiary devices were thrown from a moving car at a construction site near the Munich headquarters of defense firms Rohde & Schwarz and Helsing. One device ignited near containers at the site, though no one was hurt. Police quickly detained two suspects — a 28-year-old woman and a 38-year-old Bulgarian man — whom investigators believe were recruited by the GRU.

Similar plot in Slovakia

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that around the same time as the Munich attack, the GRU was also preparing an attack on a factory belonging to Ukrainian drone manufacturer Skyeton in the Slovak village of Haniska. Slovak prosecutors said in late August that someone had attempted to set the factory on fire. Three people have been detained in connection with that case: two Latvian citizens and one Ukrainian citizen.

German intelligence services believe a special GRU unit, the Department of Special Tasks, is responsible for a series of sabotage incidents across Europe. The Wall Street Journal reported on the unit's formation in February 2025. Western intelligence agencies believe its tasks include carrying out assassinations and sabotage abroad, infiltrating Western companies and universities, and recruiting and training foreign agents.

In August, a drone carrying explosives was discovered at Leipzig Airport near a Ukrainian An-124 cargo plane transporting ammunition; it later emerged that multiple drones had been involved. On September 1, German authorities formally accused Russia of attempting sabotage at the airport, an allegation Moscow denies.