Germany on Tuesday warned of increased security threats over Russia's "hybrid warfare", claiming it is specifically targeting the country's arms industry.
"We are the biggest supporter of Ukraine in Europe, that's what (Russian President Vladimir Putin) wants. That's why we are assuming an increased threat situation and talking to companies about better protection - especially in the defense industry," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the daily newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.
"The security situation has deteriorated significantly. Putin is acting absolutely unscrupulously," she added.
Faeser pointed to what she called Putin's "brutality" with which he waged his "war of aggression against the Ukrainian civilian population," but also in "cyberattacks or disinformation campaigns."
There are attacks on critical infrastructure and companies, and there is also a significant increase in incidents of sabotage and espionage, she said.
Russia has long faced accusations from the West of waging hybrid warfare, which is the use of conventional and unconventional means to create instability in countries. Tactics can include election interference, assassination plots and attacks on critical infrastructure.
Last month, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also said that hybrid attacks were being launched from Russia and the target was Germany.
"Putin is engaging in hybrid attacks and Germany is particularly in focus. He knows us well, Putin knows how to needle us," Pistorius told the Funke media group.
Defining a hybrid war as a "combination of classic military operations, economic pressure, computer attacks and propaganda in the media and social networks," he said the attackers' goal was specifically to destabilize societies.
(AA/BalkanWeb)
