The Financial Times reported that Western intelligence agencies have warned European defense company executives that Russia is stepping up assassination campaigns against them, forcing companies to step up security measures for top executives.
Reports pointed out that as the Ukrainian battlefield reaches a stalemate and Russia's economic difficulties intensify, the Kremlin has ordered the expansion of sabotage and "hybrid" operations in Europe, seeking to severely weaken the forces supporting Ukraine in the coming months.
European intelligence agencies told the Financial Times that assassinating civilian targets in Europe was once considered taboo, even for Russian intelligence agencies, but now it has become an increasingly important part of Russia's plans.
The Financial Times interviewed intelligence officials in five different European countries who warned that defense CEOs and other senior employees were being targeted by Kremlin agents.
Executives at smaller companies are also being targeted, especially those involved in manufacturing drones or their components, these officials said.
An official from Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said they had significantly stepped up contacts with "employees and management" of German defense companies, including advising them to hire teams of private bodyguards.
Sinan Selen, director of the BfV, also warned German parliamentarians a few days ago: "Russia deliberately plans violent acts against individuals, carried out by the state or state-controlled actors. ... We have observed further developments in the goals, methods and actors involved in these operations, including the use of organized criminal networks."
Most of these assassination plots are run by the Russian Military Intelligence Service (GRU). Intelligence sources pointed out that the GRU has been adjusting its methods. In addition to cooperating more closely with organized crime groups, making full use of transnational agent networks, and assigning tasks such as investigation, logistics, planning, and execution to different groups or individuals, instead of relying on a single "throwaway" agent who operates for money as in the past.
In some cases, relevant plots have been discovered and stopped. In other cases, suspicious activities were observed, including "lifestyle" surveillance of individuals at their homes and offices.
Security officials emphasized that an important part of Russia's approach is to achieve the desired effect without even actually executing the assassination.
"From the Russian perspective, the main goal is still psychological. Just by making people think they might be a target, they have achieved the effect. They want to make people hesitate to do business with Ukraine," one intelligence official explained.
One official stressed that in many cases, the methods of Russian agents still appeared amateurish and could easily be defused. But this creates additional challenges, as security units must consider that anyone could be a threat. In August this year, two young Russian tourists were arrested for setting up a tent near the house of Micael Johansson, CEO of Swedish Saab Group (Saab), and were released soon after.
Security experts say defense companies and companies in key infrastructure, energy and other industries are increasingly asking how to protect their employees in Europe.
