Is Russia planning attacks in Italia, Spain and France? What is in the CIA dossier revealed by El Mundo?

Italia, Spain and France have come under the scrutiny of Russian attacks. This was revealed by the Spanish newspaper *El Mundo*, citing information from a confidential CIA dossier. The document is said to have been handed over to the intelligence services of the three countries under threat following a mission to Moscow by the director of the US agency, John Ratcliffe.

According to the dossier, Russia is reportedly planning a destabilisation operation involving attacks using light ‘Gerbera’ drones. Thanks to their specifications – length of approximately two metres, wingspan of 2.5 metres, weight of 18 kilograms, speed of around 160 km/h and range of up to 600 kilometres – these aircraft are easier to handle and launch. The Kremlin is said to be using ‘ghost ships’ – that is, merchant vessels stationed in the Mediterranean Sea – to conceal the drones inside containers on board. From a distance of 200–300 kilometres from the coast, the flight to the target would take between one and a quarter hours and two hours.

Gerbera drones carry a small explosive payload; whilst they are not capable of destroying large buildings, they are powerful enough to start fires, damage exposed equipment or cause the temporary closure of ports and airports.

But why target Italia, Spain and France? The CIA dossier identifies two main reasons: on the one hand, these three countries are defenceless, with little investment in integrated air defence and missile defence systems capable of countering this type of asymmetric threat; on the other hand, all three countries are approaching the 2027 elections and have political parties that are critical of sending arms to Ukraine. The political aim would therefore be to stoke public concern and internal divisions, thereby weakening support for Kyiv.