Russia steps up assassination attempts targeting defence company executives in Europe, FT says

European intelligence services have warned executives at defence companies across Europe that Russia is stepping up attempts to assassinate them in an effort to intimidate Ukraine's partners.

Source: Financial Times, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Representatives of five different European intelligence services said the Kremlin has ordered an expansion of sabotage and hybrid operations in Europe to significantly weaken support for Kyiv in the coming months.

Intelligence officials say the killing of European civilians, once considered taboo even for the Russian secret services, is becoming an increasingly important part of these plans.

According to the warning, Kremlin agents could target executives and other senior employees at defence companies. Executives of smaller companies are also at risk, particularly those involved in manufacturing drones or their components.

A representative of Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said the agency has significantly stepped up its engagement with employees and executives at German defence companies, including recommending that they hire private close-protection teams.

"Russia is engaged in the deliberate planning of acts of violence against individuals by state or state-controlled actors. We are observing a further development of these actions in terms of the targets, the methods and the actors involved, including the use of organised crime structures," BfV head Sinan Selen warned German lawmakers.

Several defence company executives told the Financial Times that they have stepped up their personal security over the past six months on the advice of the government's security services. Others said they took such measures only when travelling abroad.

Responsibility for potential assassination attempts is largely attributed to the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency .

According to intelligence sources, Russian officers are increasingly working with organised crime groups, using cross-border agent networks and dividing intelligence gathering, logistics, planning and execution among different cells or individuals, rather than relying on "disposable" agents recruited online for money.

In some cases, active plots have already been uncovered and thwarted. In others, suspicious activity has been observed, including surveillance of individuals' daily routines at home and at work.

"The main goal from the Russian perspective 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," one intelligence official said.

Background:

• Executives at Europe's largest arms manufacturers have been on heightened alert since early 2024, when US and German intelligence services uncovered a Russian plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, CEO of German company Rheinmetall.
• In January 2025, NATO officially confirmed that Russia had intended to kill Papperger.
• In early August, a Russian couple were detained in Sweden after setting up camp near a property where a person under personal protection lived. It later emerged that the person in question was Micael Johansson, CEO of the Swedish defence company Saab.

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