BERLIN, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Germany’s armed forces classified the threat of Russian sabotage against their own troops and facilities as “significant” for the first time, the second-highest level on their internal threat scale, according to a Bundeswehr assessment reported by German broadcasters WDR and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday.
A defence ministry spokesperson confirmed the assessment, telling reporters: “We are noting that we face a significant sabotage threat overall for the Bundeswehr.”
The reassessment was triggered by the discovery in mid-September of a crashed drone carrying a tin of high explosives near the Wunstorf air base in Lower Saxony, WDR and Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.
CROSSED ‘RED LINE’
The internal document, seen by WDR and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, said Russia had crossed “a previously anticipated red line of harmful intent involving kinetic and/or lethal effects” against Germany and the Bundeswehr through the use of weaponised drones.
The Wunstorf drone resembles one laden with explosives that was used in a failed attack at Leipzig/Halle airport in August. But unlike the Leipzig incident, which authorities said targeted civilian cargo aircraft, investigators believe the Wunstorf drone was aimed at Bundeswehr aircraft, the document is cited as saying.
Germany has blamed Russia for the Leipzig attack.
Moscow denied involvement and has consistently rejected accusations of carrying out sabotage or hybrid attacks in Europe.
The report also cited a pattern of suspected Russian reconnaissance across Germany, including drone overflights of the Arrow 3 missile defence site in Saxony-Anhalt, and a camouflaged camera found filming a strategically important railway station in Minden, Westphalia.
Intelligence services expect the situation to worsen in the short term, with further actions likely in the near future, the document says, according to WDR and Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
The defence ministry spokesperson said preventive measures were being tailored to individual sites and could range from increased guard patrols to additional technical security such as infrared cameras and fence surveillance systems.
The assessment comes just over a week after German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Germany faced a “shadow war” and called for expanded intelligence powers.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that Russian disinformation and hybrid attacks posed the biggest threat to Germany. “My view is that our people are still underestimating this big threat to our society… This is a fundamental attack against the entire political order we achieved after 1990.”
(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke; Editing by Andrea Ricci )
