Germany has issued a warning about the threat of an assassination attempt by Russia against the heads of defense companies

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has issued an official warning to German businesses due to the growing threat posed by Russian intelligence services. 

Counterintelligence assesses the threat level as high for companies in the defense-industrial complex, especially those that manufacture drones and robotic systems and provide assistance to Ukraine.

The agency emphasizes that, in addition to espionage, cyberattacks, and sabotage along logistics routes, there is a possibility of targeted attacks and assassination attempts against specific individuals, primarily company executives. The publication by the Russian Ministry of Defense of a list of European drone manufacturers—after which Russian officials identified them as potential targets—served as a catalyst for the escalation of this threat. This occurred against the backdrop of agreements between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deepen security cooperation.

German intelligence confirms that Russian special services are already conducting preparatory operations. In the spring, several suspects were detained in Germany who were passing on information about military facilities and surveilling the head of a company that supplies UAVs. At the same time, Russia is increasingly involving non-professional operatives in subversive activities, recruiting them cheaply via messaging apps. In light of this, intelligence agencies are urging defense companies to strengthen security and cybersecurity measures, and strongly advising employees not to post information about their work on social media or use private messaging apps for work-related communication.

Source: BfV warning to the German economy.

Western intelligence agencies also link Russian agents to a series of crimes in Europe, including arson, attacks on infrastructure, and a plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, the head of the German defense company Rheinmetall.