Assassinations of leaders: how Russia seeks to intimidate European arms manufacturers for Ukraine

European intelligence agencies have warned defense company executives about increased Russian attempts to assassinate them. According to intelligence, the Kremlin is expanding sabotage and hybrid operations in Europe to weaken support for Ukraine.

This is reported by the Financial Times .

Western intelligence sources say Russia is planning to step up sabotage operations in Europe in the coming months. These plans, the sources say, include assassinations of European civilians, a tactic previously considered taboo even for Russian intelligence agencies.

Russian agents have targeted executives and senior employees of defense companies, as well as representatives of small businesses that produce drones and their components.

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has stepped up its engagement with employees and management of defense companies. In particular, the service recommends engaging private security teams.

“Russia is engaged in the deliberate planning of acts of violence against individuals by state or state-controlled entities,” BfV head Sinan Selen told German lawmakers.

He also noted that these actions are evolving in terms of goals, methods, and the range of participants involved, in particular through the use of organized crime structures.

Several defense company executives told reporters that they have increased their personal security over the past six months, following recommendations from government security agencies. Others only apply additional security measures when traveling abroad.

Responsibility for organizing such plots is largely placed on the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. According to intelligence officials, Russian officers are increasingly collaborating with organized crime groups.

Such networks distribute intelligence gathering, logistics, planning, and execution of operations among different participants. This is different from the previous practice of recruiting agents for specific tasks over the Internet for money.

In some cases, prepared plots have already been detected and stopped. In others, suspicious activity has been recorded, including surveillance of people at home and at work.

Security service representatives emphasized that to achieve Russia’s goal, it is not necessary to complete the assassination attempt. The very feeling of threat should have a psychological impact on defense enterprise leaders and deter them from cooperating with Ukraine.

“The main goal from the Russian perspective is still psychological. The very fact that people feel like they could be targeted has the desired effect. They want people to think twice before doing business with Ukraine,” one intelligence official noted.