Firebomb attack on Munich defence contractors: two Bulgarians arrested
Incendiary devices were thrown at defence contractors in Munich during the night of Thursday. Two Bulgarian suspects were arrested, with authorities examining a political motive.
Attack on Munich defence facility fails – investigators examining political motive
According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Bavaria's central agency for combating extremism and terrorism (ZET) has taken over the investigation following an alleged firebomb attack on defence contractors in the Munich district of Berg am Laim. In a joint statement with the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (BLKA), the authorities justified this on the grounds that "a political motive cannot be ruled out".
Passers-by alerted police shortly before midnight: several incendiary devices had been thrown from a moving vehicle on Mühldorfstraße behind the East Railway Station. The technology company Rohde & Schwarz and the defence start-up Helsing are based there, among others. According to sources with knowledge of the matter, it is currently unclear which organisation was the specific target of the attack.
One of the incendiary devices caused a fire which arriving officers were able to extinguish. A second incendiary device failed to ignite and was later defused by BLKA specialists, as a spokesman for the authority confirmed to the SZ. No one was injured. According to the SZ's information, the incendiary devices were not simple Molotov cocktails; the BLKA spokesman made no further comment on this.
As part of an immediate manhunt, police arrested two suspects at a nearby Esso petrol station on Innsbrucker Ring: a 28-year-old Bulgarian woman and her compatriot, ten years her senior. Both are to be brought before an investigating judge, who will decide on whether to issue an arrest warrant. According to the BLKA and the public prosecutor's office, the extent to which the two individuals are connected to the attack is "subject to ongoing investigation".
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) stated at an event in Nuremberg that it should be assumed there was a "political background to these offences". With reference to attacks on electricity substations in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, which had occurred only on Tuesday, Herrmann spoke of an "increased risk of attacks" on Germany's infrastructure and on defence contractors. Neither the interior minister nor the Munich public prosecutor's office named any concrete suspicion regarding possible instigators.
According to a report by Bavarian Broadcasting, the incendiary devices are said to have been thrown at a construction site in front of Rohde & Schwarz's company headquarters. The BLKA and public prosecutor's office did not explicitly confirm this: "The building complex in question is home to several defence contractors," was all that was stated in the press release. Helsing's headquarters is located diagonally opposite on the other side of the street, which is why this company cannot be ruled out as a possible target either.
Helsing was not available for comment when contacted. A spokeswoman for Rohde & Schwarz merely confirmed that "a police and fire service operation took place in the vicinity of our Munich operational site" during the past night. The operational site itself had not been affected; beyond that, the company did not wish to make public comment "at the present time".
Rohde & Schwarz develops and produces, amongst other things, radio and telecommunications systems for government and security authorities as well as the Bundeswehr. Helsing, founded in 2021, is primarily active in drone production and advertises defence concepts "to protect our democracy".
The attack fits into a broader pattern. Since the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, German defence contractors have increasingly been in the sights of foreign powers. In late July, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) had sent a security warning to relevant companies and warned of espionage and sabotage measures on Russian orders. Shortly before that, a man from Moldova had been arrested at the premises of weapons manufacturer KNDS in Allach – on suspicion of taking security-sensitive drone footage.
Rohde & Schwarz had already been the target of attacks in the past. Following an arson attack in eastern Munich in May 2021, the company was explicitly named as a target in a statement of responsibility posted on a platform used by left-wing extremists – the authenticity of this statement has not been confirmed by security authorities to date. This incident is counted as part of a series of around 50 attacks on critical infrastructure in and around Munich, which were initially attributed to the left-wing extremist milieu. Investigators are now no longer ruling out involvement by Russian intelligence services.
Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung