Firebomb attack on defence contractors in Munich: two Bulgarians arrested
Incendiary devices were thrown at defence companies in Munich overnight on Thursday. Two Bulgarian suspects were arrested, with a political motive being examined.
Firebombs targeting defence contractors in Berg am Laim – political motive not ruled out
In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, incendiary devices were thrown from a moving car at buildings in the Munich district of Berg am Laim, where several defence contractors are located. Police arrested two Bulgarian nationals on the night of the incident. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Bavaria's centralised department for combating extremism and terrorism (ZET) has taken over the investigation together with the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (BLKA) on the grounds that "a political motive cannot be ruled out".
Passers-by alerted police shortly before midnight after observing several firebombs being thrown from a car on Mühldorfstraße, located behind the Ostbahnhof. Defence contractors Rohde & Schwarz and Helsing are among the companies with facilities there. Whether the attack was directed at one of these companies or both cannot be said with certainty at present, according to informed sources.
One firebomb ignited, another was defused
One firebomb succeeded in starting a fire, which responding officers were able to extinguish quickly. Another firebomb failed to ignite and was later defused by specialists from the BLKA, as a spokesperson for the authority confirmed to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. No one was injured. Whether further firebombs were found and what type of incendiary devices were involved remains unclear. According to information from the SZ, they are said not to have been simple Molotov cocktails.
During a search operation launched immediately, the two suspects were arrested at a nearby Esso petrol station on Innsbrucker Ring: a 28-year-old Bulgarian woman and her countryman who is ten years her senior. The extent to which the two are connected with the attack is the subject of ongoing investigations. They are to be brought before an investigating judge, who will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant.
Herrmann speaks of political background
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) commented before the official statement from the investigating authorities, saying at an event in Nuremberg that it was to be assumed that there was a "political background to these offences". With regard to attacks on electrical substations in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, which had only occurred on Tuesday, Herrmann pointed to an "increased risk of attacks" on critical infrastructure and defence contractors in Germany. Neither the minister nor the Munich Public Prosecutor General's office named any concrete suspicion regarding possible masterminds.
According to a report by Bavarian Broadcasting, the firebombs are said to have been thrown at a construction site in front of the headquarters of Rohde & Schwarz. However, the authorities did not explicitly confirm this. In their joint press release, they merely stated: "Several defence contractors are located in the building complex in question." The headquarters of Helsing is located diagonally opposite on the other side of the street, which is why this company also cannot be ruled out as a possible target.
Companies make cautious statements
Helsing did not provide an official statement. A spokesperson for Rohde & Schwarz merely confirmed that "a police and fire service deployment occurred in the vicinity of our operating site in Munich" overnight. The operating site itself had not been affected. Beyond that, the company does not wish to comment publicly at this time.
Rohde & Schwarz develops and produces, among other things, radio and telecommunications systems for government and security authorities as well as the Bundeswehr. The start-up Helsing, founded in 2021, is primarily engaged in drone production.
Defence industry increasingly in the crosshairs
Since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, German defence contractors have come increasingly into the focus of foreign intelligence services and militant actors. At the end of July, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) sent a security warning to affected companies and warned of espionage and sabotage measures on Russian orders. Shortly before that, there had been a drone sighting over the site of weapons manufacturer KNDS in Munich-Allach; a man from Moldova was arrested on suspicion of taking security-relevant photographs.
Rohde & Schwarz had previously been the target of militant attackers. Following an attack on the power grid in eastern Munich in May 2021, the company was explicitly named as a target in a claim of responsibility posted on a platform used by left-wing radicals. The authorities have not yet confirmed the authenticity of the statement. This arson case is part of a series of around 50 attacks on critical infrastructure in and around Munich in recent years – acts initially attributed to the left-wing radical scene, but in which involvement by Russian intelligence services is now no longer being ruled out.
Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung