The Kremlin has rejected claims that Russia or its agents have been using drones to track American and allied weapons shipments passing through eastern Germany, after a Thursday New York Times article alleged it.
US officials suspect that Russian intelligence or its proxies have flown surveillance drones over supply routes in the German state of Thuringia, the NY Times said, in an effort to gather vital intelligence on arms manufacturers and logistical pathways for weapon deliveries to Ukraine via Poland - especially when it comes to US arms flows.
The idea is that Russia could use this information to then possibly sabotage supply routes or manufacturers, as part of an ongoing 'dirty war' against NATO's support infrastructure.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov used the word 'fabricated' to dismiss the report, saying, "It’s hard to believe - if it were true, the Germans would have certainly reacted. This sounds like yet another fabricated news story."
According to the Thursday NY Times report:
US spy agencies have been providing information to European governments about potential sabotage actions, according to people briefed on the discussions. That has included a warning to German intelligence officials about a plot to send explosives or incendiary devices on cargo planes transiting Germany.
The warning resulted in the arrest of the three Ukrainian nationals in Germany and Switzerland. The federal prosecutor’s office in Berlin said in a statement at the time that the plan appeared to be part of a plot to damage logistical infrastructure for commercial freight.
German intelligence has suspected that some of the drones may have originated from Iran in terms of design and manufacturing, and could have been launched from ships in the nearby Baltic Sea. But despite apparent eyewitness reports of the drone sightings, there's little or nothing confirmable in theirs of their origin or purpose.
One US military analyst cited in the Times report explained, "If at some point the Russians wanted to get more aggressive and forward leaning with that kind of intelligence collection, they know what companies are exporting and what routes are being used."
"It would be useful if they wanted to conduct sabotage or subversive operations," he added. The last years have seen a spate of major industrial fires in various EU states, as well as Britain, apparently targeting defense manufacturing facilities.
For example, just this summer 'Russian saboteurs' were alleged to be behind a suspected arson attack at a Bundeswehr facility in Erfurt, Germany - which destroyed half a dozen large military trucks. NATO and the Ukrainians have been suspected of doing their own dirty war sabotage operations inside Russia as well.
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Alleged sabotage video of the June incident...