Arson attack on Munich armaments site: two Bulgarians in custody
Two Bulgarian citizens are in remand custody following an arson attack near defence firms in Munich. Investigators are working on the assumption of a political motive.
Two suspects arrested after arson attack at Munich armaments firms
A 28-year-old Bulgarian woman and her countryman, ten years her senior, are in remand custody following an arson attack on a construction site in Munich. According to Tagesschau, an investigating judge issued the arrest warrants on application from the Munich prosecutor general's office and the Bavarian state criminal police. The suspects are accused of property damage and attempted arson.
The attack occurred overnight on Thursday. According to investigations, the two suspects threw incendiary devices at the construction site from a moving vehicle. One of the incendiary devices caused a fire, which police extinguished; a second incendiary device was defused. No one was injured, and material damage remained minimal. A witness observed the suspected perpetrators, prompting police to arrest the two individuals shortly afterwards at a petrol station. There are no further suspects at this time, according to a spokesman for the state criminal police.
In the course of investigations, officers searched three flats in Munich district and seized numerous items that are now being evaluated.
Proximity to Helsing and Rohde & Schwarz
The affected construction site is in the immediate vicinity of the headquarters of security technology manufacturer Rohde & Schwarz and drone manufacturer Helsing. According to publicly available information, Helsing supplies AI-controlled combat drones to Ukrainian armed forces in the war against Russia. It remains unclear whether the companies were the actual target of the attack.
According to information from the ARD capital office bureau, a Russian intelligence service could be behind the attack. The Munich prosecutor general's office has taken over the investigation; the Bavarian central office for combating extremism and terrorism is based at this authority. Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) also assumes a political background.
Armaments site Bavaria in the crosshairs
Bavaria is considered one of the centres of the German armaments industry. According to figures from the Bavarian Ministry of Economics, one-third of nationwide turnover in this sector recently fell to companies based in the Free State; the sector employs 45,000 people there. Turnover and employment are growing because European NATO states have significantly increased their defence spending.
According to security authorities, the threat to the German armaments industry has increased in the course of the Ukraine war. The attack is part of a series of acts of sabotage against companies and facilities across Germany. The federal government is therefore consulting with the federal states on new powers for drone defence as well as further protective measures, according to a spokesperson for the Federal Interior Ministry.
Source: Tagesschau