# Germany's Intelligence Chief Warns of Risk of Violent Conflict With Russia > Martin Jaeger, head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, told lawmakers that Moscow's hybrid campaign against the country has entered a more dangerous phase, warning that attacks on German targets remain a real and immediate threat even as his agency sees no sign of an imminent conventional military strike on NATO. - Source: Berlin Today - Canonical URL: https://berlintoday.eu/article/germany-s-intelligence-chief-warns-of-risk-of-violent-conflict-with-russia - Author: Doug Brown - Section: Politics - Published: 2026-10-05T23:10:33.456Z - Updated: 2026-10-05T23:10:33.456Z - Tags: Germany, Russia, BND, Martin Jaeger, intelligence, security, NATO --- The head of Germany's foreign intelligence service has warned that the country risks being pulled into a violent confrontation with Russia as Moscow steps up what he described as an intensifying covert campaign against European democracies. Martin Jaeger, who leads the Bundesnachrichtendienst, Germany's foreign intelligence agency, told lawmakers at the annual parliamentary hearing of intelligence chiefs that the standoff with Russia has moved into a new and more dangerous phase than in previous years. ## A Shadow War, Not Yet an Open One Jaeger characterized Russia's current approach as a shadow war, a term meant to capture a campaign of sabotage, cyberattacks and covert operations that falls short of open military confrontation but is nonetheless deliberately aimed at destabilizing Germany and its allies. He said the threat of attacks against targets inside the country remains both real and immediate, language rarely used so bluntly in public testimony from Germany's top intelligence official. That assessment lines up with a pattern German authorities have described repeatedly in recent months, pointing to a mix of drone incursions and cyber intrusions they attribute to Russian linked actors, including the explosive drone found near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft at Leipzig Halle Airport earlier this year. ## No Single Country Poses a Bigger Threat Jaeger went further in ranking the scale of the danger, telling the hearing that no other country currently presents as direct, wide ranging and concrete a threat to Germany as Russia does. That framing places Moscow above other traditional areas of intelligence concern, underscoring how central Russia has become to Germany's domestic and foreign security planning. At the same time, Jaeger was careful to draw a distinction between this kind of hybrid pressure and an actual conventional attack. He said his agency currently sees no indication of preparations for a major Russian military strike on a NATO member, while cautioning that lower level Russian military activity remains possible, particularly in the Baltic states. ## Why It Matters The warning adds weight to a debate already underway in Berlin over how far Germany should go in hardening its defenses against sabotage, cyberattacks and drone incursions that fall short of outright war but still carry real risk of casualties or serious disruption. Coming from the country's top foreign intelligence official rather than a politician, the assessment is likely to carry particular weight in discussions over security budgets, counter drone measures and how aggressively Germany should respond to incidents it links to Moscow going forward. --- Originally published by Berlin Today. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://berlintoday.eu/article/germany-s-intelligence-chief-warns-of-risk-of-violent-conflict-with-russia.