A warning of more attacks

Germany's domestic intelligence chief Sinan Selen, head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), told a press conference in Berlin on Monday, 12 October, that Germany must reckon with further attacks. He said Russia uses almost every means available to it in hybrid operations and that an effective system of defence against them is needed. According to the BfV, Moscow is behind a multitude of sabotage, disinformation and espionage operations. Selen argued that the threat will persist even if the war in Ukraine ends, because Russia wants to redraw Europe's place in geopolitics and the hybrid threat has long been decoupled from the situation in Ukraine.

“We must reckon with attacks.”

A 'shadow war' against Germany

Interior minister Alexander Dobrindt, who was present at the same press conference, described a 'shadow war' that uses disinformation, sabotage, espionage and cyberattacks to undermine the democratic order. He said the aim is not to defeat Germany militarily but to subjugate it politically and socially. Dobrindt said Germany is a target because of its economic strength, its scientific institutions and its central role in European defence and in support for Ukraine. He told the press conference that Germany faces more intensified threats today than during the Cold War, when the boundaries were clearer. Dobrindt called for a transformation of German security structures and said the change in defence policy after Russia's invasion of Ukraine must extend beyond foreign policy.

The Leipzig airport incident

In the night of 4 to 5 August, a transport aircraft collided with an unidentified object near Leipzig/Halle airport in eastern Germany. The aircraft was diverted to Hanover, where minor damage to its fuselage was found. Earlier, the airport halted operations after a drone carrying about 600 grams of explosives was found on the apron next to a Ukrainian Antonov transport plane; it did not explode. In September, Dobrindt said at a press conference that Russia was responsible for the drone incident.

The Kremlin rejects these accusations. Its spokesman Dmitry Peskov called them baseless and said Germany was creating a false enemy to justify military spending.

Warnings from Berlin and the wider context

BND chief Martin Jaeger told the Bundestag in early October that Russian attacks on targets in Germany were a possible scenario, and that the country faced a 'violent conflict' with Russia. Berlin has for weeks warned of a likely escalation by Moscow, and the attempted drone attack in Leipzig in early August was a shock to the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Dobrindt had earlier said the attack marked a 'new level' of threat. Confronted with attacks attributed to Russia and the rise of the pro-Russian far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the government and its services are stressing the danger from the Kremlin. This is meant to justify rising military spending and support for Kyiv. Vladimir Putin had demanded, even before invading Ukraine, that NATO withdraw from much of Eastern Europe.