Executives of British defense companies supplying weapons to Ukraine have been warned of the growing risk of being targeted by Russian espionage and assassination plots, The Mail on Sunday reported.
The warnings were delivered during a summer roundtable organized by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) that was attended by senior government officials and defense CEOs.
While specific attendees were not named, the group reportedly included representatives from manufacturers supplying drones and weaponry to Kyiv.
The security briefing followed the exposure of Russian assassination plots targeting European defense executives. Most notably, US and German intelligence thwarted a Russian plan to assassinate Armin Papperger, CEO of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, which currently holds a £4.2 billion artillery shell contract for Ukraine.
Elisabeth Braw, a security expert at the Atlantic Council think tank, told the publication that defense executives across the UK and Europe are increasingly concerned about their personal safety and the security of their facilities.
She noted that Moscow has signaled that it considers anyone connected to the Western defense sector to be a legitimate target.
Rising diplomatic tensions and military threats
The domestic security warnings align with escalating military rhetoric from Moscow directed at the UK government. On Thursday, Russia threatened to strike British military installations following UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s recent visit to Kyiv.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that London was “one step away” from complicity in what Moscow labeled “terrorism,” threatening “inevitable, catastrophic consequences.”
The threats followed Burnham’s Aug. 24 decision to approve the transfer of classified British intelligence and production blueprints for Anglo-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine. The move is designed to enable Kyiv to manufacture the long-range precision weapons domestically.
During her briefing, Zakharova heavily criticized Burnham for making Kyiv his first official international destination rather than a traditional Western ally, framing it as an “obsessive anti-Russian agenda.”
When questioned by a British journalist about whether Russian strikes on UK territory would trigger NATO’s Article 5 collective-defense clause, Zakharova refused to retract the warning and instead accused the British media of hypocrisy.