Germany warns of growing hybrid threats from Russia and China

Germany's Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) said in its annual report, published Monday, that the country has become an increasingly attractive target for hostile intelligence and sabotage operations. The agency links this to Germany's geostrategic importance within Europe and NATO, as well as the expansion of the Bundeswehr and the introduction of new weapons systems.

The report states that Germany has become one of Russia's priority espionage targets. According to MAD, the range of hybrid threats continues to widen, encompassing cyberattacks, drone incursions, attempts to influence political processes, and operations aimed at disrupting transport, energy facilities and telecommunications.

Sabotage risks and diplomatic cover

MAD notes a marked rise in potential sabotage activity involving lower-level agents, though the report deliberately withholds comparative figures that could help adversaries draw conclusions from the data. Embassies, quasi-state organizations and certain press agencies, the agency says, often provide cover for Russian espionage activity.

The report also raises concerns about trips by German military personnel to Russia and Belarus, frequently undertaken to visit family. During such visits, officers reportedly come to the attention of local intelligence services — a situation the report describes as creating particular vulnerability to blackmail and pressure from those countries' security agencies.

China's role in surveillance

The report further states that at least some surveillance activity targeting German military infrastructure — including drone flights and intrusions onto Bundeswehr properties — can be attributed to Chinese intelligence services, which also make use of the Chinese diaspora abroad to further their aims.