Russia Is Targeting Europe’s Defense Chiefs and Drone Start-Ups

Set Trending Topics as a preferred source on Google.

Anyone building drones for Ukraine in Europe may now want to budget for bodyguards as well. According to The Financial Times, officials from five European intelligence agencies are warning that Russia is expanding its plans to attack executives in the defense industry. The targets include the heads of major arms makers as well as the founders and managers of small companies that produce drones or drone components.

What the Intelligence Agencies Are Reporting

According to the report, summarized by outlets including Meduza, the plans are driven mainly by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the G.R.U. The Kremlin has reportedly ordered an expansion of sabotage and hybrid operations in Europe aimed at decisively weakening support for Kyiv. Assassination attempts against civilians are playing an increasingly prominent role.

The methods have changed, too. The G.R.U. is increasingly relying on organized crime groups and splitting reconnaissance, logistics, planning and execution among different people, which makes the networks harder to uncover. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has stepped up its cooperation with the defense industry and advises executives to hire private security. Some executives have increased their personal protection in recent months, and one company even relocated a production site in Western Europe, according to The FT.

Firebombs in Munich, Napalm in Slovakia

Several incidents in recent months show that the threat goes beyond words:

• Munich: In early September, firebombs were thrown from a moving car onto a construction site near the headquarters of Rohde & Schwarz and the A.I. defense start-up Helsing. No one was injured. The police arrested a 38-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman from Bulgaria. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, investigators believe the G.R.U. recruited the two.
• Slovakia: In late summer, Slovak police foiled an arson attack using homemade napalm on a plant of the Ukrainian drone maker Skyeton in eastern Slovakia, according to OCCRP. About 70 employees could have been endangered. Three suspects were charged, and Skyeton blamed Russia.
• Leipzig: In August, a drone carrying explosives struck a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport. The explosives did not detonate. The German government has formally blamed Russia and raised its threat level.
• Sweden: Also in August, a Russian couple was detained after camping near a property linked to the family of Saab’s chief executive, Micael Johansson. Saab builds the Gripen fighter jets that Ukraine wants to buy.

The pattern is not entirely new. In 2024, U.S. and German intelligence agencies uncovered plans to assassinate Rheinmetall’s chief executive, Armin Papperger.

Why Start-Ups Are Especially Vulnerable

For large companies like Rheinmetall or Saab, site security is part of everyday business. For young drone companies, security is a significant cost, which, according to the intelligence agencies, makes them especially attractive targets. And the sector is growing fast: Munich-based Helsing was reported to be valued at about $18 billion (about €16.2 billion) earlier this year, alongside drone makers such as Quantum Systems, Stark and ARX Robotics. Defense acquisitions have hit a record high this year, and many of these companies supply Ukraine directly.

That makes Europe’s fastest-growing start-up sector a target. An intelligence official summed up Moscow’s calculation to The FT: Companies should think twice before doing business with Ukraine.

How Seriously to Take the Threat

Not every suspicion holds up. In the Swedish case, the Russian couple was released after a few days, and their lawyer said they were no longer suspected of any crime. In the Skyeton case, the police have not publicly said who ordered the attack. Russia rejects all accusations: The Russian Embassy denied any responsibility for the attack in Leipzig, and in 2024 the Kremlin dismissed reports of plans against Mr. Papperger as fake.

The intelligence agencies themselves also offer some perspective. One source told The FT that many actions by Russian agents were still amateurish and easy to thwart. The main goal remains psychological, the source said: spreading fear without the attacks actually having to succeed. Poland, on the other hand, warns that Russia’s sabotage campaign in Europe could soon cost lives and is calling on NATO for a decisive response.