Germany: A late Wake-up Call on Russia's Hybrid Warfare Strategies Germany: A late Wake-up Call on Russia's Hybrid Warfare Strategies

The article argues that Germany historically underestimated Russia’s hybrid and grey-zone warfare, focusing mostly on cyber risks while neglecting the physical vulnerability of critical infrastructure such as pipelines and subsea cables. This complacency was rooted in long-standing myths of economic interdependence and a special bilateral relationship with Russia, even as Moscow engaged in disinformation, espionage, and covert operations in Europe. Since the Nord Stream explosion and Russia’s escalated aggression after 2022, Germany has become a prime target of sabotage attempts, proxy-recruited operatives, and influence campaigns aimed at destabilizing its politics, infrastructure, and public attitudes. Reported Russian-linked actions include arson attacks, train derailments, attempts to disrupt elections, and damage to undersea cables, alongside extensive GPS jamming in the Baltic region. In response, Germany has increased maritime patrols, expanded cooperation with Baltic and Nordic states, invested in LNG infrastructure, and embraced emerging technologies such as autonomous drones and advanced sensor systems to strengthen maritime domain awareness. The article concludes that Germany must overhaul its security culture through stronger regulation, public-private cooperation, resilience measures, and alignment with NATO, in order to confront sustained Russian (and Chinese) hybrid threats.