Russia Launches Manhunt for Europe’s Top Defense Executives, FT Reports
Intelligence officials said the campaign aims to intimidate executives and disrupt European military supplies to Ukraine.
- Western intelligence services have warned leaders of European defense companies that Russia is intensifying efforts to physically eliminate them, with the Kremlin ordering operations to "fatally weaken support for Kyiv," the Financial Times reported.
- Russian military intelligence, the GRU, is responsible for planning and carrying out the sabotage, having recently adapted methods to work closely with organized crime groups and rely on cross-border agent networks.
- In summer 2024, Russia allegedly planned the assassination of Armin Papperger, CEO of the German arms company Rheinmetall, which produces artillery shells and military equipment for Ukraine.
- Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, has stepped up work with defense companies to bolster security for senior executives, while NATO confirmed it was aware of these sabotage and subversion plans.
- Despite the intensified threats, one Financial Times source noted that the actions of Russian agents "were still amateurish" in many cases and are easy to thwart.
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Russian assassinations on Western soil demand violent retaliation
The only credible response to Russia deliberately murdering citizens of the United States or a European nation would be violent retaliation. This is not a hypothetical concern. The Financial Times reports that Russia’s GRU military intelligence service is escalating its assassination plots against European defense executives. While similar Russian plots have been disrupted since the […]
European companies have increased security for top executives.
Russia is intensifying attempts to assassinate defense company executives, representatives of five European intelligence agencies told the Financial Times. – The threat level in Europe has increased. This applies to both property and people.
The Russian shadow war is no longer limited to sabotage or cyberattacks, but now also targets the business world. Western intelligence agencies warn that the Kremlin is enlisting local criminals to eliminate top executives of European arms manufacturers. By doing so, Moscow aims to cripple military support to Ukraine. The real threat is forcing the defense sector to take drastic security measures.
The intelligence services of several European countries alert the leaders of defence-related companies and call on them to protect themselves more against the threat. ...
According to the intelligence services of several countries, European employers of arms companies are said to be in the sights of Russia. Among them are French CEOs. "The mere fact that the threat exists is enough to put pressure," explains the big reporter TF1-LCI Thomas Misrachi. (International).
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