German military counterintelligence: Russian-paid saboteurs and Chinese drones over bases are the new normal

Germany's Militärischer Abschirmdienst (MAD), the military counterintelligence service, has released its first annual report required by law, placing a documented pattern of Kremlin-directed sabotage on the official statutory record.

According to the report, Russian-linked operators have been recruiting ordinary people with no prior intelligence background, paying them to carry out sabotage acts, including setting fires. This method allows Moscow to maintain a degree of deniability, since the people actually carrying out the acts are often not formally tied to any intelligence service or state body.

Drones over military bases

The report also highlights the appearance of Chinese-origin drones over Bundeswehr bases, another development that Germany's military now treats as part of a broader, ongoing security concern.

The fact that such a report is now a statutory requirement, published on a regular basis, signals that German authorities no longer view these incidents as isolated events but rather as part of a systemic and persistent threat pattern the country must account for.

The report is being described as evidence that both Russia-linked sabotage activity and foreign drone incursions over German military sites have become a fixture of the country's security landscape.