Report: CIA warned Europe of Russian drone attack from vessels in the Mediterranean

VIENNA — The CIA has warned European countries of a suspected Russian plot to launch Gerbera-type drones from aboard commercial vessels in the Mediterranean, a new report says.

Major Spanish daily El Mundo published the article, which was based on testimony from an anonymous Lithuanian intelligence source, late Wednesday local time.

According to the paper, the CIA had assessed that Spain, France or Italy may be the targets of these attacks, with drones launching from international waters in the Mediterranean and traveling to the coastal countries over the course of an hour or two.

The Gerbera drone was selected because of its small size – it has a wingspan of just 2.5 meters – which allows it to be concealed easily, El Mundo wrote. The drones have a maximum range of 600 kilometers, depending on load and environmental conditions, and carry a relatively small warhead that would be effective at starting a fire, destroying exposed infrastructure components or causing political and economic turmoil.

The drones were to be transported hidden in containers, which was described as being “not difficult at all,” before being catapult-launched for their attack missions on the Western Mediterranean NATO members, according to El Mundo’s sourcing.

Lithuania and other European countries were reportedly made aware of this threat shortly after the CIA director made an unannounced and secretive visit to Moscow aboard a U.S. military plane on Aug. 25.

According to El Mundo, an key CIA report was rumored to be circulating in European leadership circles in mid-September, coinciding with French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to convene the Defense Council on Sept. 16 and then summon all party leaders and the 2027 presidential candidates to the Élysée Palace two days later.

The El Mundo report has not been independently corroborated.

The perceived threat of Russian kinetic action has increased significantly across European capitals this year, owing to heightened sabotage and hybrid warfare activity generally attributed to Moscow. Airspace violations by Russian drones along NATO’s eastern flank have become increasingly commonplace, leading to several instances of the alliance’s fighter jets shooting down intruding unmanned aerial vehicles.

A year ago, 19 unarmed Russian drones entered Polish airspace, the largest airspace violation to date, and one that was widely assessed to have been a deliberate provocation and test of NATO’s response.

The prospect of launching from Russian merchant ships has long been suspected in European policy circles, with coastal sightings of unidentified UAVs sometimes coinciding with the presence of Russian “shadow fleet” ships. In February of this year, a Swedish Navy vessel detected and jammed a drone taking off from a Russian intelligence ship in the Öresund Strait, coinciding with a visit of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Scandinavian country.

A new step on the escalation ladder was reached in early August, when an explosive-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft and a separate plane collided with a drone mid-air at Germany’s Leipzig airport, a key freight hub in the NATO country. After a month-long investigation, German authorities officially attributed the attack to Russia.

On Sept. 19, the major pro-Russian Telegram channel Rybar published a map titled “Russian medicine against French arrogance,” suggesting supplying Algeria with Geran-5 drones to strike French aeronautical factories, military bases, nuclear plants and petrochemical sites, El Mundo reported.

Even non-NATO, landlocked European countries are taking note and stepping up their preparedness. The Austrian military has launched a “large exercise” to practice counter-drone measures and air defense, Austrian public media reported on Thursday. The drill will involve 300 soldiers spread across several townships in eastern Austria, as well as Mistral ground-to-air missiles, 35-millimeter cannons and electronic warfare measures.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

维也纳——一份新报告称，中央情报局已警告欧洲各国，俄罗斯涉嫌密谋从地中海的商船上发射“非洲菊”型无人机。

西班牙主要日报《世界报》于当地时间周三晚些时候发表了这篇文章，文章内容基于一位匿名立陶宛情报人士的证词。

根据该报报道，中央情报局评估认为，西班牙、法国或意大利可能是这些袭击的目标，无人机将从地中海的国际水域起飞，并在1到2小时内飞抵沿海国家。

《世界报》报道称，之所以选择“非洲菊”（Gerbera）无人机，是因为它体积小巧——翼展仅2.5米——便于隐蔽。该无人机的最大航程为600公里，具体距离取决于载荷和环境条件，其携带的弹头相对较小，但足以引发火灾、摧毁裸露的基础设施或造成政治经济动荡。

据《世界报》消息人士透露，这些无人机将被藏在集装箱内运输，这被描述为“一点也不难”，然后用弹射器发射，对西地中海的北约成员国执行攻击任务。

据报道，在中央情报局局长于 8 月 25 日乘坐美国军用飞机对莫斯科进行了一次未宣布的秘密访问后不久，立陶宛和其他欧洲国家就得知了这一威胁。

据《世界报》报道，一份重要的中央情报局报告在9月中旬被传在欧洲领导层中流传，与此同时，法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙决定于9月16日召开国防委员会会议，并在两天后召集所有政党领导人和2027年总统候选人前往爱丽舍宫。

《世界报》的报道尚未得到独立证实。

今年以来，由于普遍认为是莫斯科所为的破坏活动和混合战争活动加剧，欧洲各国首都对俄罗斯军事行动威胁的感知显著增强。俄罗斯无人机侵犯北约东翼空域的事件日益频繁，导致北约战斗机多次击落入侵的无人机。

一年前，19 架未携带武器的俄罗斯无人机进入波兰领空，这是迄今为止最大的领空侵犯事件，并被广泛认为是蓄意挑衅和对北约反应的试探。

欧洲政策圈长期以来一直怀疑俄罗斯商船可能发射无人机，因为沿海地区时常发现不明无人机，而这些无人机有时恰好与俄罗斯“影子舰队”舰艇的出现重合。今年2月，一艘瑞典海军舰艇在厄勒海峡探测并干扰了一架从俄罗斯情报船上起飞的无人机，当时正值法国“戴高乐”号航空母舰访问瑞典。

8月初，局势升级又向前迈进了一步：一架装载爆炸物的无人机在一架乌克兰货机附近被发现；随后，另一架飞机在德国莱比锡机场——这个北约成员国的重要货运枢纽——与一架无人机在空中相撞。经过一个月的调查，德国当局正式将此次袭击归咎于俄罗斯。

据《世界报》报道，9月19日，亲俄的主要Telegram频道Rybar发布了一张题为“俄罗斯医学对抗法国傲慢”的地图，建议向阿尔及利亚提供Geran-5无人机，用于袭击法国的航空工厂、军事基地、核电站和石化设施。

即使是非北约成员国的内陆欧洲国家也开始关注并加强防备。奥地利公共媒体周四报道，奥地利军方已启动一项“大型演习”，旨在演练反无人机措施和防空能力。此次演习将动用分布在奥地利东部多个城镇的300名士兵，并使用“西北风”地对空导弹、35毫米机炮和电子战装备。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。