The German cabinet has agreed plans to allow the army to shoot down suspicious drones after several sightings over military sites, the government announced today, as Russia is accused of waging a ‘hybrid war’ against the West.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that ‘especially since Putin‘s war of aggression against Ukraine, we have seen that drones are being used more and more frequently, which poses an increasing challenge for the police and their current technology.’
The ministry said that ‘security services have noted that reports of sightings of uncooperative drones over critical infrastructure and military properties in Germany are increasing.’
‘Espionage or sabotage are regularly considered as a possible reason,’ it added in a statement, as tensions between Moscow and Berlin continue to run high.
Under current regulations, soldiers can assist the police in forcing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to change direction or land, threaten to shoot it down or fire warning shots.
But under the new proposals, a drone could be shot down by the army if it is believed the device is being ‘used against the lives of people or against a critical facility, and the use of armed force is the only means of averting this present danger’, the ministry said.
Unidentified drones have been spotted flying over several military bases and other sensitive sites in Germany in recent months, at a time when the country is on high alert for Russian espionage.
Police in the southern state of Bavaria this week said they were looking into several incidents in which drones had flown over military installations in Manching and Neuburg an der Donau.
The Manching site hosts a military aerodrome and is where the Eurofighter jet is developed by Airbus.
Several drones have also recently been spotted at an industrial zone near the North Sea and near the US airbase in Ramstein.
The changes must still be voted through in the lower and upper houses of parliament before becoming law.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in October that Moscow was using ‘hybrid means’ to target Germany, adding: ‘We see many, many examples, time and again.’
She cited drone activity around the new gas terminals, suggesting they were ‘not there to observe the beautiful local landscape, but because there is a chemical park there and a… storage facility for nuclear waste nearby,’
According to German media reports, the reconnaissance was carried out by unmanned Russian military aircraft. Officials warned the scouting could be ‘for the purposes of sabotage’.
It comes as Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk today warned that Russia had planned acts of ‘air terror’ against airlines worldwide, accusing Moscow of staging sabotage and diversion on Polish soil and beyond.
‘All I can say, and I will not go into details, but I can confirm the validity of these fears, is that Russia has been planning acts of air terror, and not only against Poland, but against airlines all over the world,’ Tusk told reporters.
Russian spies were accused of sending a package full of erotic gadgets to DHL depots in Britain and Germany last year in an alleged ‘test-run’ for a larger attack on a US-bound flight.
Two incendiary devices had been shipped via a DHL logistics centre on July 22 from Lithuania to Birmingham, England, and Leipzig, Germany, resulting in a fire.
It was later revealed the explosives were hidden in a box containing sex toys and massage pillows.
Moscow has also been accused of jamming satellite systems for civilian air flights with state of the art technology.
The Kremlin has been accused of trying to undermine European interests over their backing of Kyiv and sharp sanctions on Moscow since the war in Ukraine began almost three years ago.
In August, Russia was accused of flying multiple drones over Germany to collect sensitive information on a nuclear power plant. Germany decommissioned the last of its nuclear power plants in 2023 after years of fierce debate.
Intelligence officers blamed Russia, telling Bild drones were scouting over Brunsbütte as a potential target for sabotage.
In July, US intelligence uncovered a plot they believe shows Russian intent to sponsor a series of assassinations of defence industry executives across Europe, including Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, a staunch supporter of Ukraine.
A top German official confirmed that Berlin was warned about the plot by the US, and western officials said the Papperger plot was the most far along.
Rheinmetall is the top German manufacturer of 155mm artillery shells used by Ukraine to deter the Russian advance. The company was on the brink of opening a new plant within Ukraine tasked with producing armoured vehicles as news of the foiled plot broke.
Baerbock said Russia was waging a hybrid war of aggression, including cyberattacks and sabotage of infrastructure.
‘This underlines once again that we as Europeans must protect ourselves as best we can and not be naïve,’ she said.
‘Russia’s intensifying campaign of subversion is something that we are taking extremely seriously and have been intently focused on over the past few months,’ National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told CNN at the time.
‘The United States has been discussing this issue with our NATO Allies, and we are actively working together to expose and disrupt these activities,’ she said, reiterating support for Ukraine in the face of destabilisation efforts.
Russia has been accused of trying to destabilise Ukraine’s allies since the war in Ukraine began.
Moscow also allegedly upped its subversive activities after Biden relaxed rules on Ukraine firing long-range missiles into Russia.
The hybrid warfare tactics they are alleged to have engaged in include the ‘weaponising mass migration’ along the EU’s western border.
Western leaders accused Russia of sabotaging vital cables in the Baltic in November, and have repeatedly accused Russia of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines which provide Europe with gas.
There have also been accusations that Russia has influenced elections in Moldova and Georgia.
