French authorities have arrested a 48-year-old Belarusian national on suspicion of spying on a drone factory near Toulouse that supplies both the French and Ukrainian militaries, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The man, who lives in Spain, was taken into custody on June 3 after he was caught filming a drone prototype at Delair’s site in Labège, the prosecutor’s office told AFP, confirming earlier reporting by Le Parisien. Investigators with France’s domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, determined he sent the video to a contact located in Russia, prosecutors said.
He has been placed in pretrial detention.
Molotov cocktails targeted the site days before the arrest
Two days before the arrest, the Delair facility was targeted by Molotov cocktails that did not explode. A source close to the case raised the possibility of a link between that attempted intimidation and the suspected surveillance activity.
Why Delair’s Labège plant is a strategic target
Delair’s plant in the Labège area of the Toulouse metro region produces drones, including units that supply Ukraine’s military. That industrial and military role makes it a direct target in the kind of foreign interference operations the DGSI monitors inside France.
Prosecutors pointed to the suspect’s residence in Spain and his occasional operations on French soil as reflecting a common method in such missions: discretion, mobility, and rapid transmission of intelligence.
Five days after the arrest, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a formal judicial investigation and assigned it to an investigating judge for multiple alleged offenses involving “the fundamental interests of the Nation,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
Up to 15 years in prison alleged for passing information to a foreign power
The man has been formally charged with two main counts: delivering information to a foreign power—an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison—and criminal conspiracy, prosecutors said.
The Paris prosecutor’s office, which has nationwide jurisdiction over suspected foreign interference cases in France, is handling the investigation.
The case comes as Russian operations have intensified against arms supply chains intended for Ukraine, including elsewhere in Europe. Delair is among the French defense-industry players described as directly exposed, alongside other production sites for military equipment.
