Russia’s Shadow War Puts Germany and Europe on Edge

Germany is urging its European allies to set up a fast-acting security unit for the Baltic Sea region as Berlin responds to what it describes as an intensifying wave of Russian hybrid warfare. The push comes amid alarm over an alleged attempted drone strike involving explosives at one of Germany’s key cargo aviation hubs.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt introduced the plan after an Aug. 28 meeting in Flensburg, calling for Baltic Sea nations to improve real-time intelligence sharing and coordinate faster action against hybrid threats. Those risks include drone incursions, sabotage operations, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns and assaults on critical infrastructure.

“We want to turn this shared threat environment into a shared security environment,” Dobrindt said, cautioning that the tactics being used are becoming both more common and more advanced.

The proposal has gained fresh momentum after Germany this week formally blamed Russia for an attempted Aug. 4 attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, where authorities say a drone equipped with explosives was involved.

German officials said police findings, intelligence information and the methods used in the attack led Berlin to conclude Russia was responsible. The government said aspects of the drone, explosives and detonation technology were consistent with methods seen in previous Russian hybrid operations and in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Germany has not publicly released much of the underlying evidence, saying details including information about suspected perpetrators, travel routes, surveillance footage and DNA evidence are being withheld to protect the investigation.

Latvia characterized the Leipzig attack in even stronger terms.

“The attack in Leipzig confirms once again that Russia poses a direct threat to the security of all of Europe. This was not merely a hybrid attack, but state-sponsored terrorism on German soil,” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said in a statement published by Latvia’s Foreign Ministry.

Braže also called for continued efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities and for additional sanctions aimed at limiting Russia’s ability to produce missiles, drones and other weapons.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Newton told News Media that the episode reflects what he described as a widening pattern of hostile activity.

“We are clearly seeing an escalation in the scope and intensity of Russian gray-zone hostile actions across Europe,” Newton said. “Russia has long used a variety of non-military, covert, and hybrid tactics – cyberattacks, information operations, sabotage, other covert means – to create disruption while staying just below the threshold of open conflict with NATO.”

Newton called Germany’s attribution of the Leipzig plot “particularly serious,” saying it “demonstrates how dangerous these operations are becoming.”

Germany responded by announcing the closure of Russia’s consulate general in Bonn and ending the arrangement governing the Russian House cultural center in Berlin. Berlin also said it would tighten entry controls for Russian nationals and increase pressure on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.

Russia has denied responsibility for the Leipzig incident, calling Germany’s accusations “entirely fabricated” and accusing Berlin of escalating tensions, according to Reuters.

The heightened concern comes as German police separately investigate a cluster of suspected sabotage incidents targeting the country’s electricity infrastructure this week.

Authorities were investigating a suspicious device found near a substation in Dormagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, on Friday, following incidents in Bergheim and Brandenburg.

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In Bergheim, deliberate interference temporarily forced lignite-fired generating units representing about 4,200 megawatts of capacity offline, though no broader blackout occurred.

German authorities have not publicly connected those power-grid incidents to Russia, a distinction Newton said was important.

“We need to be careful when attributing these hostile acts and ensure we have indisputable intelligence information that clearly leads to the source of these belligerent actions,” Newton said.

“The incidents involving Germany’s power infrastructure are still under investigation and have not been publicly attributed to Russia, or any other source for that matter,” he added.

The German government nevertheless said Friday that the country faces a persistent hybrid threat.

“Germany is not at war, but it is a daily target of hybrid warfare,” the government said, citing attacks on communications systems, disinformation and arson targeting the defense industry.

Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told News Media that Moscow has increasingly sought to pressure Western countries while avoiding conventional conflict.

“We do know that Russia is trying to fight the Western world below the line of kinetic conflict and their methods are getting ever bolder, whether through cyber operations, sabotage, drones and other forms of pressure across Europe,” Breedlove said. “We’re even becoming aware of things they are doing inside the United States.”

Breedlove said Russian President Vladimir Putin has long sought to exploit divisions within NATO, “especially between the United States and Europe.”

“The Western world has got to step up to counter the Russian threat,” he said.

The Baltic initiative comes amid broader efforts by NATO and regional governments to protect an area increasingly associated with threats to undersea cables, pipelines, shipping and other critical infrastructure.

NATO already operates Baltic Sentry, an enhanced vigilance activity launched in 2025 to strengthen protection of critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

In February, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden agreed to accelerate the acquisition and integration of new technologies for Baltic naval operations. NATO said that initiative built on testing involving roughly 70 aerial and maritime drones in 2025.

Breedlove said Germany’s proposed task force could help bridge intelligence, law-enforcement and military responses among regional partners.

“Germany’s Baltic initiative makes sense,” he said. “The value is also for partner countries to share information faster, connect the intelligence, law-enforcement and military pieces, and make decisions before Russia can take advantage of confusion or delay.”

Newton similarly said the task force could complement NATO’s existing military activity by improving governments’ ability to rapidly share intelligence and coordinate security responses.

Breedlove warned that Moscow would continue searching for opportunities to exploit uncertainty.

“Without question, the Russians will keep looking for places where they can create uncertainty and hesitation,” he said. “We need to get better at recognizing their actions with speed – and responding forcefully with the strength of our allies.”

News Media reached out to the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment but did not receive responses by publication time.