US supplies in their sights Kremlin drones spy on German arms routes for Ukraine

Russia is using drones in Germany to spy on top-secret arms shipments to Ukraine. The German defense minister speaks of a cat-and-mouse game.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has expressed little surprise at a media report that Russian drones may be scouting supply routes for Western military goods to Ukraine via eastern Germany.

A report in the New York Times, citing sources from US authorities and other Western countries, states that Russia or Russian supporters are using drones to monitor routes in eastern Germany that are used for the delivery of military supplies to Ukraine. Wirtschaftswoche" also reported on such reconnaissance flights by Russian drones in Germany.

According to Wirtschaftswoche, one aim of the espionage operations is to scout the routes of European military transports, which are constantly being changed. They also find out which weapons will soon reach Ukraine and when fresh ammunition will reach the front.

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Western intelligence services assume that Russia is well informed about which arms and conglomerates are producing for Ukraine. This could also result in dangers for their management personnel.

Those affected must expect to be in the crosshairs of Russian agents. Last year, an attack on Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger was only narrowly prevented.

Hardly any action against Putin's spy drones

As far as drones are concerned, Germany's Bundeswehr is not responsible for monitoring civilian territory or road connections in Germany, said Pistorius when asked about this after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart Margarita Robles in Berlin.

"But yes, the fact that drones are also flying somewhere over ports and railroads should come as no surprise to anyone. But there's not that much action against them." In total, a three-digit number of drone overflights have already been registered this year.

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The Minister of Defense said that it was often very difficult to determine where drones were being flown from. He emphasized that the protection of military installations had been strengthened and mentioned techniques for intercepting drones. "But this is a constant cat-and-mouse game of a technical nature between what drone developers do and what we can do - that is also part of the truth."