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17-01-2025
BERLIN: Germany’s cabinet has decided to authorize the army to shoot down suspicious drones seen near military sites or other critical infrastructure.
A statement from Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that, “especially since [Russian President Vladimir] 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”.
Russia is suspected of launching a “shadow war” against Western countries supporting Ukraine – a charge it denies.
This has included alleged attempts to blow up international airliners, attack infrastructure or interfere with democratic elections.
“I can only confirm that Russia planned acts of air terror, not just against Poland but against airlines across the globe,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.
He did not give any details, but his statement appeared to be confirmation of a New York Times report that US President Joe Biden had warned Putin over the alleged plans.
In November, Polish prosecutors said a series of parcel fires targeting courier companies in Europe were dry runs by groups aiming to sabotaging flights to the US and Canada.
Tusk was hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Warsaw, a day after NATO announced a new mission to increase the surveillance of ships in the Baltic Sea after critical undersea cables were damaged or severed last year.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Meanwhile, NATO has launched a new mission to increase the surveillance of ships in the Baltic Sea after critical undersea cables were damaged or severed last year.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said the mission, dubbed “Baltic Sentry”; would involve more patrol aircraft, warships and drones.
His announcement was made at a summit in Helsinki attended by all NATO countries perched on the Baltic Sea Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.
While Russia was not directly singled out as a culprit in the cable damage, Rutte said NATO would step up its monitoring of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” – ships without clear ownership that are used to carry embargoed oil products.
In November, last year, A series of parcel fires targeting courier companies in Poland, Germany and the UK were dry runs aimed at sabotaging flights to the US and Canada, Polish prosecutors say.
Katarzyna Calow-Jaszewska revealed late last month that four people had been arrested and authorities across Europe were investigating the incidents.
Western security officials have now told US media they believe the fires – which happened in July – were part of an orchestrated campaign by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
Russia denies being behind acts of sabotage but it is suspected to have been behind other attacks on warehouses and railway networks in EU member states this year, including in Sweden and in the Czech Republic.
Calow-Jaszewska said in a statement that a group of foreign intelligence saboteurs had been involved in sending parcels containing hidden explosives and dangerous materials via courier companies. The parcels then spontaneously burst into flames or blew up. Western officials believe the fires originated in electric massage machines containing a “magnesium-based” substance.
Magnesium-based fires are hard to put out, especially on board a plane. (Int’l News Desk)
