European intelligence: Russia intensifies assassination plots against defense executives supplying Ukraine
Five European intelligence services have warned executives of European defense companies that Russia is escalating efforts to assassinate them, the Financial Times reported. Targets include heads of prime contractors and small drone-component firms. Russia's GRU is said to be adapting its methods by cooperating with organized crime groups and cross-border agent networks, and Germany's domestic intelligence chief told lawmakers Moscow is planning acts of violence against individuals using state or state-controlled actors.
Key points
- Financial Times reported the warning based on information from representatives of five European intelligence services.
- Russia's military intelligence (GRU / GU GSh) is identified as primarily responsible for the liquidation operations, working with organized crime groups and cross-border agent networks.
- Targets include executives of large prime contractors and leaders of small companies producing drones or drone components for Ukraine.
- Germany's domestic intelligence (BfV) has significantly expanded its engagement with German defense firms and is recommending private personal security teams.
- Past plots thwarted or exposed include a 2024 attempt on Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, a late-2025 plot against Donaustahl founder Stefan Thumann, and an early-August 2025 incident in Sweden involving Saab CEO Micael Johansson.
- Security officials said the main Russian goal is psychological deterrence: making executives feel they could be targets in order to discourage cooperation with Ukraine, even if attempts are not carried out.
Why it matters
The public warning marks a shift in how European services describe the threat: killings of European defense-industry civilians have moved from taboo to operational practice, and the goal is explicitly psychological — to push firms and their staff away from cooperating with Ukraine. With documented attempts on senior figures at Rheinmetall, Saab and Donaustahl and a new tradecraft built around organized-crime cells rather than one-off online recruits, the cost and burden of protection risks reshaping who is willing to supply Kyiv in the first place.
What happened
Representatives of five European intelligence services told the Financial Times that Russia is intensifying efforts to assassinate executives of European defense companies. The Kremlin has ordered an expansion of sabotage and "hybrid" operations in Europe aimed at weakening support for Kyiv in the coming months, and Russia's military intelligence (GRU / GU GSh) is responsible for the liquidation operations. The GRU is adapting its methods by working more closely with organized crime groups, using cross-border agent networks and distributing intelligence, logistics, planning and execution between different cells rather than relying on single online-recruited agents.
Targets include executives and other senior staff at large prime contractors as well as leaders of small companies producing drones or drone components for Ukraine. Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has significantly expanded its engagement with employees and leadership of German defense firms and is recommending private personal security teams. BfV head Sinan Selen warned German lawmakers that Russia is deliberately planning acts of violence against individuals by state or state-controlled actors, including through organized-crime structures.
Security officials stress that the Russian aim is psychological — making executives feel they could be a target so they think twice before doing business with Ukraine — and that assassination attempts do not need to be carried out for the campaign to have its effect. Some plots have already been detected and prevented. In July 2024, US and German agencies thwarted a Russian plan to kill Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, which NATO officially confirmed in January 2025. In early August 2025, a Russian couple was detained in Sweden after camping near the residence of Saab CEO Micael Johansson. At the end of 2025, German intelligence prevented an attempt on Stefan Thumann, founder of drone supplier Donaustahl. Western intelligence links the campaign to stalled battlefield progress in Ukraine and the difficulties facing the Russian economy.
Background
The Kremlin has expanded sabotage and "hybrid" operations in Europe as battlefield progress in Ukraine stalled and Russia's economy came under strain, according to intelligence officials. Russia's military intelligence (GRU, also referred to as GU GSh) is identified as primarily responsible for the liquidation operations, and is moving away from single online-recruited agents toward structured cooperation with organized crime and cross-border cells. Germany's domestic intelligence (BfV), under chief Sinan Selen, has scaled up its work with German defense firms and is recommending private personal security teams. Several European defense-industry executives told the Financial Times they have tightened personal security over the past six months on specific government advice, while others limit such measures to travel outside their home country. Security experts say they are fielding more requests from defense, critical-infrastructure and energy companies on protecting European employees. One executive said his firm relocated a Western European production site because of Russian threats, and on 26 August 2025 a Ukrainian was detained in Poland on suspicion of preparing, allegedly on Russian orders, an attempt on the head of a defense enterprise in the Kyiv region.