Russia or its proxies are flying surveillance drones over routes that the US and its allies use to ferry military supplies through eastern Germany, collecting intelligence that could be used to bolster the Kremlin’s sabotage campaign and assist its troops in Ukraine, according to US and other western officials.

US and German officials have been discussing Russian sabotage efforts, including information that led to the arrest in May of three Ukrainian men accused in a Russia-linked plot, the officials said.

The Russian sabotage campaign has led to fires at warehouses in Britain, an attack against a dam in Norway, attempts to cut cables under the Baltic Sea and an array of operations intended to bring the war in Ukraine closer to the heart of Europe and to undermine support for Kyiv.

After hitting a high last year, Russian sabotage acts have fallen off significantly this year, experts and western intelligence officials said. That is at least partly the result of heightened security in Europe, and efforts by US and European intelligence services to prevent attacks.

The drop also likely reflects a swirl of diplomatic activity to negotiate an end to the fighting in Ukraine.

“The landscape is more difficult for Russians to operate,” said Seth Jones, who studies the issue for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “But it’s not unreasonable to assume the Russians are a bit more cautious now while there are negotiations.”

Jones noted in a report published in March that Russian attacks in Europe quadrupled between 2022 and 2023, then tripled again between 2023 and 2024. But Jones tracked a significant drop-off in the first six months of this year, with only four incidents qualifying as sabotage or attempted sabotage by Russia.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies also said in a report that sabotage operations this year had declined, but that the threat remained. In testimony to the Senate in June, Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, now the head of US European Command, said targeted sabotage incidents had declined this year “due to heightened public scrutiny and robust law enforcement efforts by European authorities”.

During the Biden administration, the US provided intelligence to Europe. The sharing has continued under the Trump administration. US spy agencies have been providing information to European governments about sabotage actions, according to people briefed on the discussions.

New York Times News Service