Suspected Hi-Speed Russian UAVs Spy On German Nuclear Power Plant; Police Drone Fails To Catch-Up: Media

As the threat of drone surveillance increases globally, German officials have noted unusual drone activity over its sensitive nuclear facilities, raising alarms about possible espionage.

In recent days, drones have repeatedly been spotted over the industrial area located in Brunsbüttel, Germany. German publication BILD reported that high-speed drones have been observed flying over nuclear power plants.  The police departments and the public prosecutor’s office are reportedly on high alert.

As per the report in BILD, these drones have been flying at very high speeds over the region near Brunsbüttel’s closed nuclear power station, liquefied natural gas terminal, and chemical factories since at least August 8.

On the evening of August 20, a drone traveling at a speed of more than 100 kilometers/hour was observed over the nuclear power plant.

Following media reports about the case, investigators in northern Germany acknowledged in August that they were looking into suspected drone activity above an industrial park in Brunsbüttel. “The no-fly zone had been violated several times,” an internal police report said about the nuclear plant.

Police in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein placed officers on alert after the most recent drone incident, which occurred on August 22.

Special services suspect that Russian agents operating from ships in the North Sea may have launched the drones over Brunsbüttel with the intention of sabotage. They suspect that the drones in question could be the Orlan-10 type, which has a range of 500-600 kilometers and a top speed of 100 kilometers/hour. However, this is mere conjecture, and the investigators are trying to confirm their suspicion.

A report in another German publication, Spiegel, stated that police drones failed to match the mystery drones’ flight speeds when they attempted to track them back to sea. The police have reportedly contacted the armed Bundeswehr for assistance.

A spokesman for the German Defense Ministry told the German news agency DPA on Thursday, August 22, that the Bundeswehr has been providing police radar and other data so they can examine the case thoroughly.

There have been several security scares at NATO and Bundeswehr military locations in Germany of late, which has put the country on high alert regarding possible Russian espionage or even sabotage. Additionally, tensions between Berlin and Moscow have escalated ever since the invasion of Ukraine was launched in February 2022.

Germany, one of Ukraine’s main military aid providers since Russia’s incursion in 2022, has been more vigilant about sabotage activity and recently closed a military base due to unfounded concerns about tainted tap water. Earlier this year, two German-Russian nationals were arrested on suspicion of plotting sabotage, which authorities characterized as a major effort to undermine military support for Ukraine.

The proliferation of drones operating above critical facilities has escalated globally, especially in Europe, leading to concerns that the Kremlin could be implicated in these activities.

The Uptick in Drone Activity

Done-led espionage has become a major concern in the West. In April 2022, drone flights over British nuclear installations triggered concerns about spying. At that time, defense officials said that they believed that Beijing’s spies had been responsible for 18 drone sightings at military sites and power facilities around the UK in just two years.

The drone sightings reportedly occurred between 2019 and 2021, but the locations of the military bases were kept confidential due to national security concerns. This information has emerged as intelligence officials have cautioned that China is eager to acquire the UK’s most sensitive secrets.

One nuclear site’s report read that “security personnel reported a drone being flown close to a facility”, while another said that the drone landed in the area and the area by security personnel”. A third report read that an “officer reported seeing a drone flying. No drone was located upon further search.”

More recently, Russian drones have been sighted over sites across Germany and the UK where the Ukrainian forces are being trained. Earlier this month, British soldiers were warned that Russian spies could be using drones to surveil UK military bases to gather intelligence on the confidential training program designed for Ukrainian forces.

According to a pamphlet given to British soldiers, Operation Interflex — the global initiative that the British are leading to support and train the armed forces of Ukraine — has attracted “significant” interest from Russian intelligence.

Since the training aims to prepare Ukrainian soldiers for combat against Russia, there is widespread suspicion that the Kremlin is making efforts to collect intelligence on the training module and, likely, the equipment that its forces will have to face. Germany, incidentally, has not been able to escape this meticulously conducted spying.

German media revealed earlier this year that for over a year, unidentifiable drones had been routinely observed above German military training grounds, overlying the areas where Ukrainian military forces were receiving training.

According to some reports, the main objective at the time was gathering information about Ukrainians receiving Leopard tank training. These drones reportedly ventured deep into Germany’s forests to collect “intelligence.”

Rather than trying to intervene, the Ukrainian forces received directives to prepare for the engagement of Russian drones along the front lines in eastern Ukraine by training to deal with potentially hostile unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

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