{"id":71453,"date":"2026-08-13T01:59:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T01:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/71453\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T01:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T01:59:48","slug":"german-military-says-russia-using-hybrid-attacks-to-test-nato-responses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/71453\/","title":{"rendered":"German Military Says Russia Using Hybrid Attacks to Test NATO Responses"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n \"The
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Germany\u2019s top military officer has warned that Russia is using drones and other hybrid operations to test NATO\u2019s defenses and identify weaknesses that could be exploited in a future conflict.<\/p>\n

Gen. Carsten Breuer, the Bundeswehr\u2019s chief of defense, told<\/a> The Wall Street Journal that hybrid attacks occur daily across NATO, with countries along the alliance\u2019s eastern flank<\/a> facing particular pressure.<\/p>\n

According to Breuer, Moscow is monitoring how governments respond to individual incidents and adapting its tactics accordingly.<\/p>\n

He also argued that Russia is restructuring its military and economy for a possible broader confrontation with the West while continuing its war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Separate US intelligence assessments cited by the Journal suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin could launch a limited attack against a NATO member in the coming years to test the alliance\u2019s willingness to respond collectively.<\/p>\n

The warning echoes an assessment issued earlier this year by the Dutch defense ministry, which said Russia could begin a limited military campaign against a NATO country as soon as one year after the war in Ukraine ends<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Drones and Missiles Test NATO Defenses<\/p>\n

Breuer\u2019s warning comes amid a series of incidents involving unidentified aircraft and weapons near NATO territory.<\/p>\n

German police recently defused an explosive-carrying drone found near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft at an airport in eastern Germany.<\/p>\n

Authorities are still investigating who operated the drone, and no connection to Russia has been established.<\/p>\n

A Russian cruise missile<\/a> also crashed in eastern Poland last month, around 60 miles (97 kilometers) from Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Although it was likely intended for a target inside Ukraine, NATO officials reportedly suspect that Moscow has also used drones and missiles entering allied airspace to assess the alliance\u2019s detection and response capabilities.<\/p>\n

Germany Seeks a Larger European Defense Role<\/p>\n

Germany sharply increased its defense spending following Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and is now seeking a greater leadership role in European security.<\/p>\n

According to The Wall Street Journal, Breuer\u2019s assessment underpins Germany\u2019s new military strategy, a declassified summary of which was published in April.<\/p>\n

The plan prioritizes intelligence and surveillance, air defense, long-range weapons, and uncrewed platforms.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the country pledged 35 billion euros ($41 billion) for military space capabilities<\/a> by 2030, while it has reached an agreement with Washington to acquire Tomahawk cruise missiles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Breuer said Germany would initially need to purchase readily available weapons to close urgent capability gaps, while supporting the expansion of Europe\u2019s defense industry<\/a> to reduce its longer-term dependence on foreign suppliers.<\/p>\n

As part of its broader leadership push, Berlin is also strengthening military ties with NATO allies, including through an agreement signed with Poland in June<\/a> covering interoperability, cybersecurity, and space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Germany\u2019s top military officer has warned that Russia is using drones and other hybrid operations to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2373,421,5,478,1831,774],"class_list":["post-71453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-conflict","tag-drones","tag-germany","tag-nato","tag-russia","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}