Swedish authorities have warned of a heightened risk of Russian sabotage, particularly at weapons facilities, as the defence industry has said it is increasingly under attack.
Security companies in Sweden reported an increase in sabotage attempts, including the use of drones over defence companies' facilities to document and map them, “more aggressive” espionage, cyberattacks and disinformation.
In recent months, Europe has seen a series of incidents believed to involve Russia, including a foiled plot to assassinate the chief executive of a German arms manufacturer and a fire at a metal factory owned by a defence manufacturer in Berlin.
Sweden's security service Saopo said there was a “higher Russian propensity for risk” including when it came to carrying out influence and sabotage operations.
“We have been seeing signs of an increased Russian risk appetite for some time now, and this applies to activities that threaten security. This is a broad spectrum, from influence operations to even sabotage, which are aimed at the West and therefore at Sweden,” Säpo spokesman Karl Melin told broadcaster SVT.
As a result of Sweden's support for Ukraine, Säpo considers military facilities and arms factories to be the most vulnerable.
“We have been reporting illegal intelligence activities by foreign powers for many years, but now we see this difference and possibly a trend towards greater risk-taking by Russia. This is a change that we take very seriously and that we take into account in dealing with this threat,” Melin said.
The Swedish Security and Defence Industry Association (SOFF), which represents 250 companies, said it was seeing “more aggressive intelligence operations to gather sensitive information through espionage. We have seen examples of physical and technical attempts to gain access to information and innovation.”
According to Robert Limmergård, secretary general of SOFF, smaller companies are suffering from more sophisticated cyber attacks and their industry is being targeted by disinformation campaigns. The disinformation is believed to be aimed at spreading rumours about Swedish weapons in Ukraine or about individual companies in an attempt to undermine trust in the Nordic country, which joined NATO less than six months ago.
“This is a more active threat landscape, where Russia in particular has lowered the threshold for its actions,” he said. “Russia has always had the resources to act, but what we see is that today it is willing to take a greater risk.”
Calling for a change in the law, he said companies must be able to combat drones and workers' transport must be better protected.
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“Current laws are written for peacetime, but we are in difficult times,” he said. “We also see the need for increased resources for supervisory authorities in terms of security protection, as well as greater exchange of information on threats between authorities and companies. It is important that authorities have the capacity to cope with business life.”
Säpo said it was responding to the Russian attacks with counterintelligence and by improving companies' understanding of how they might be vulnerable.
The Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
