British defense companies supplying Ukraine with weapons and drones have warned of possible operations by Russian special services against their executives, employees, and production facilities. These could include espionage, cyberattacks, sabotage, and potential assassination attempts. This is reported by the Daily Mail, according to UNN.
Details
According to the publication, the warning was issued during a closed roundtable that the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office held with defense company executives earlier this summer.
The meeting’s participants were allegedly warned of the risk of surveillance of employees, attempts to obtain classified information, cyberattacks, sabotage at facilities, as well as possible physical attacks on company executives.
Afterward, some companies tightened personnel screening, access controls at production sites, and security measures during overseas trips by senior executives.
The British government has not officially commented on the holding of such a closed briefing.
Among the enterprises that may be of particular interest to Russia are manufacturers of drones and long-range weapons supplied to Ukraine.
In particular, the Ukrainian company Ukrspecsystems opened production facilities in Suffolk, Britain, in 2026. The facility is intended to manufacture unmanned systems, including for Ukraine’s needs.
Another British company, Callen-Lenz, which is owned by BAE Systems, is working on unmanned platforms, some of which are procured by the British Ministry of Defense.
MBDA, the manufacturer of Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles, is also attracting particular attention. At the end of August, the United Kingdom allowed the company to provide Ukraine with classified data on the British components of these missiles in order to deepen cooperation with Kyiv and Paris.
Context
The warning came amid a sharp escalation in Moscow’s rhetoric toward the United Kingdom.
In August, the Russian side repeatedly threatened London with "consequences" over the supply of drones and long-range weapons to Ukraine. Officials in Russia also stated that strikes on British military facilities could be possible in response to Ukraine’s use of British weapons.
London’s concerns are also grounded in previous incidents in Europe.
In 2024, U.S. intelligence uncovered a Russian plan to assassinate Armin Papperger, the CEO of the German defense contractor Rheinmetall. A NATO representative later confirmed that the plan was part of a broader Russian campaign that included sabotage, arson, and possible assassination attempts against representatives of the defense industry.
Germany is also investigating the possible preparation of an assassination attempt against Stefan Thomann, the head of Donaustahl, a company that manufactures drones for Ukraine.
Britain’s counterintelligence service MI5 previously warned that Russia is increasingly using intermediaries recruited online for sabotage and espionage. This includes surveillance, arson, infrastructure damage, and other operations against facilities and people linked to support for Ukraine.
In 2024, a warehouse containing humanitarian aid and Starlink equipment intended for Ukraine was also set on fire in London. British prosecutors said that the organizers were acting in the interests of the Russia-linked private military company "Wagner."
Reminder
Several days earlier, Stefan Thomann, the founder of the German defense startup Donaustahl, said that he feared an assassination attempt by Russian special services.