Since 2023, Europe has recorded a wave of incidents that intelligence agencies attribute to Russian hybrid operations. The war is not being fought only in Ukraine.
Infrastructure under attack
Undersea cables and communications:
- Damage to internet cables in the Baltic Sea (October 2023, November 2024)
- Russian vessels spotted near critical undersea infrastructure
- Estlink 2 cable between Finland and Estonia damaged (December 2024)
Railway networks:
- Coordinated sabotage of German railway network (October 2022)
- Arson at railway stations in France (July 2024, before the Olympics)
- Attacks on railway infrastructure in Poland and Czech Republic
Energy sector:
- Cyberattacks on power grids in several countries
- Sabotage attempts on gas pipelines and LNG terminals
Drones and surveillance
Germany reports unidentified drone flights over:
- Ports and military installations
- Critical industrial sites
- NATO bases
Presumably Russian drones have been shot down or crashed in Romania, Poland, and Latvia.
Documented operations
Cases with official attribution or strong evidence:
- Vrbětice (2014): GRU sabotage in Czech Republic (revealed in 2021)
- Skripal (2018): Attempted murder with Novichok in the UK
- Navalny (2020): Novichok poisoning
- Berlin assassination (2019): FSB agent kills Chechen dissident
- Warehouse fires (2024): Poland, Germany, UK
European response
The EU and NATO have:
- Increased surveillance of critical infrastructure
- Expelled Russian diplomats suspected of espionage
- Created units dedicated to hybrid warfare
- Strengthened intelligence cooperation
Russian hybrid warfare aims to destabilize Europe and weaken support for Ukraine without triggering a direct military response.