A French factory that builds drones for Ukraine became the target of a sabotage attempt and a suspected spying operation in early June, according to Le Parisien. French investigators treat foreign interference, possibly Russian, as their leading explanation. The case lengthens a list of European states where plants arming Kyiv have come under attack.
Since Russia's all-out invasion in 2022, France has supplied Ukraine with SCALP cruise missiles, Caesar howitzers, AMX-10has RC armored vehicles, and AASM guided bombs. In 2024, Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced new kamikaze drones for Kyiv. In 2025, Franceinfo reported that carmaker Renault would open drone production inside Ukraine, planned tens to hundreds of kilometers from the front.
A firebombing that fizzled
Le Parisien reported that in early June, attackers hurled Molotov cocktails at the Delair plant in Labège, near Toulouse in southwestern France. The incendiary mixture never caught fire, so the site escaped almost any damage. Surveillance cameras still captured several people taking part. Prosecutors in Toulouse opened a criminal case for destroying property by means dangerous to people.
A Belarusian arrested filming a prototype
Three days later, police detained a Belarusian national near the same plant. He was filming a drone prototype, prosecutors said, and officers found "advanced equipment" on him. He had been spotted near the site several times before. He allegedly sent the footage to a contact in Russia, and France arrested him on suspicion of espionage. Whether the firebombing and the arrest are connected stays unclear. The arrested man is 48 and has been living in Spain.
French security services see an outside operation, possibly Russian, as the leading theory. Only Moscow gains from choking off the weapons reaching Ukraine. Le Parisien has tracked how Russian interference, from jammed satellite signals to disrupted aircraft, keeps straining Europe.
A pattern across Europe
Espionage and sabotage are rising across EU countries that support Ukraine. Among the latest cases were these:
- In March 2026, arsonists struck a Czech plant in Pardubice that made drones and thermal sights for Ukraine, and Czech intelligence asked whether Russia hid behind a pro-Palestinian front-linked attackers.
- In January, Lithuania charged six people over a GRU-directed attempted arson on a factory supplying Ukraine's forces.
- Last autumn, Latvia caught a Russian-linked group filming sensitive sites and sending the images to Russia.
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