Russia is already waging a “shadow war” against Germany and “the threat of attacks against targets in Germany remains real and concrete.” He declared it Martin Jaegerhead of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (Bnd), the German external security services, during the annual hearing of the intelligence leaders before the Bundestag’s parliamentary control commission.
“The attempted attack in Leipzig is just one example: no other country currently represents such a direct, complete and concrete threat to Germany,” Jaeger said. The Russian secret services acted “with a high degree of professionalism and ruthlessness”warned the head of Berlin’s 007. In particular, Jaeger emphasized, the Russian leadership wants “ensure that political decisions against Moscow are not taken in Berlin and other European capitals in the future”he stated. Furthermore, the Kremlin aims to stop European support for Ukraine.
“Russia is waging a covert war against us: this undeclared war cannot be understood using conventional military or legal categories”, explained Jaeger, “we must prepare for attempts at intimidation and further interference”. According to the head of the BND, “there will probably be new nuclear threats”.
The heads of the other two German intelligence services also took part in the hearing: the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Sinan Selene Martina Rosenbergpresident of the Military Counterintelligence Service (Mad). Selen warned about risks of sabotage and assassinations carried out by Russian agents on German territory and explained that “we have already achieved some successes in countering these attacks.” However, the situation is worsening further, which is why the German secret services must adapt their capabilities to those of other European partner agencies, warns the head of the BfV. Likewise, the German armed forces are “threatened by various dangers from both outside and inside,” Rosenberg said.
Estonia moves troops to border with Russia
In the context of growing tensions in Eastern Europe, theEstonia is preparing for possible provocations from Russia and is moving troops closer to the Russian borderpurchasing weapons capable of striking deep into the Federation, writes the Financial Times. As part of the new “active defense” strategy, the Johvi base, 50 kilometers from the border with Russia, has been expanded and modernized. The headquarters of the 1st Infantry Brigade was moved there from the main Estonian military base in the city of Tapa (about 150 kilometers from the border with the Russian Federation).
Furthermore, a new military base is under construction in Narva, designed for 1,000 soldiers. It is assumed that 200 military personnel will be stationed here permanentlyand the base will be able to accommodate another 800 people in the event of a crisis situation at the border. The Estonian army believes that Russia is unlikely to try to conquer the border town of Narva, but they do not rule out provocations to test the effectiveness of Article 5 on NATO’s collective defense.
As part of the “active defense” strategy, notes the Financial Times, Estonia has signed contracts for the purchase of nine US-made Himars launchers — capable of launching missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers — and of nine South Korean Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher systemsequipped with a similar capacity. According to assessments by military and intelligence officials, Russia is not ready for a large-scale war against NATO – at least not in the next two years – but the authorities intend to do everything possible to ensure that “the very idea of an invasion never takes hold”.
“Our objective is clear: keep the enemy and the devastation of war away from Estonian territory“, said the Ministry of Defense. In recent months, European countries — especially those bordering the Russian Federation — have repeatedly expressed fear of Russian provocations aimed at putting pressure on NATO and forcing it to abandon support for Ukraine. In particular, the Latvian intelligence services had expressed such concerns in the summer of 2026.