German military rates Russian sabotage threat as 'significant' for first time

Germany's military has for the first time classified the threat of Russian sabotage against its own troops and facilities as "significant", the second-highest of four threat levels, broadcaster WDR and newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Wednesday, citing an internal Bundeswehr assessment. "We are noting that we face a significant sabotage threat overall for [Germany's armed forces]," a defence ministry spokesperson said, according to Reuters.

The reclassification followed the discovery in mid-September of a crashed drone carrying a can of powerful explosives near the Wunstorf air base in Lower Saxony, the outlets reported. The device resembled in design the explosive-laden drone used in a failed attack on Leipzig/Halle airport in early August, though Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office said a technical analysis suggested the Wunstorf drone had probably been lying near the base for about two years.

Unlike the Leipzig case, where investigators said the target was a Ukrainian cargo plane, the Wunstorf drone was probably aimed at Bundeswehr aircraft, the internal document said. The assessment concludes Russia has crossed "a previously expected threshold" of threat to Germany and its armed forces by turning drones into weapons, which investigators called a direct threat to German troops rather than an indirect one.

The document also cites suspected Russian reconnaissance in Germany, including drone overflights of an Arrow 3 missile-defence base in Saxony-Anhalt and a hidden camera found filming a strategically important railway station in Minden, Westphalia. Officials expect the threat to escalate in the short term and say new incidents are likely soon.

The Leipzig incident involved a drone carrying a detonator and explosives found on a runway near a Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan cargo plane on 5 August; no one was hurt and the aircraft was not damaged, Ukraine's foreign ministry said. Germany officially accused Russia of attempting a terrorist attack at the airport on 1 September and closed the Russian consulate in Bonn the next day. German investigators have identified two suspects, a Russian-born Latvian passport holder and a Belarusian-born Russian passport holder, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.

Previously, the risk of sabotage had been assessed as particularly high only at sites where Ukrainian soldiers train and at naval bases and shipyards. Under the new, broader assessment, security measures are being stepped up at bases individually, from increased patrols to infrared cameras and fence-monitoring systems, a defence ministry spokesman said.

The reassessment comes just over a week after Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Germany faced a "shadow war" with Russia designed to destabilise the country, and after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that Russian disinformation and hybrid attacks are the biggest threat Germany faces.