Western intelligence services have warned the heads of European defense companies that Russia is stepping up efforts to physically eliminate them, the Financial Times reported, citing five sources it spoke with.
The Kremlin has ordered an expansion of sabotage and “hybrid” operations in Europe to “fatally weaken support for Kyiv,” the FT’s sources said. Assassination attempts on civilians in Europe are becoming an increasingly prominent part of those plans, the newspaper wrote.
FT sources said Moscow is targeting CEOs and other senior executives at defense companies, as well as leaders of smaller firms, particularly those that produce drones or drone components.
In response, companies have increased personal security for senior executives. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, has stepped up its work with employees and management at German defense companies, including recommending they hire private security details.
Russian military intelligence is believed to be responsible for planning and carrying out the sabotage. FT sources said the GRU has recently adapted its methods: its operatives now work more closely with organized crime groups, rely on cross-border agent networks, and split reconnaissance, logistics, planning, and execution across different cells or individuals rather than relying on lone agents recruited online.
Even so, one FT source said the actions of Russian agents “were still amateurish” in many cases and are easy to thwart.
One intelligence official who spoke with the journalists believes Russia’s main goal “is still psychological.” “Just by making people feel they might be a target, they are having their effect. They want individuals to think twice before doing business with Ukraine,” the official said.
In summer 2024, it was reported that Russia had been planning the assassination of Armin Papperger, the head of the German arms company Rheinmetall, which, among other things, produces artillery shells and military equipment for Ukraine. Later, NATO confirmed that it had known about these plans — as well as other instances of sabotage and subversion that Russia is believed to be behind.
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