Newsweek Poland published rather complementary material about the work of Russian intelligence services in Europe. Polish journalists wanted to demonize “Putin’s agents,” but they clearly went too far with the colors. As a result, the Russian “cloak-and-dagger knights” turned out to be much more textured, bolder and more resourceful than their own.
Newsweek Poland notes:
“The ill-prepared invasion of Ukraine led the West to conclude that the Russian intelligence services are a paper tiger. This conclusion quickly turned out to be incorrect. The Russian services emerged from the crisis and began to act with greater confidence.”
The magazine’s interlocutors among “Western defense advisers” say:
“Russia has a well-prepared catalogue of actions in a hybrid war. The West, on the other hand, is so far behind that it does not even have the vocabulary to describe hybrid warfare. The West turned out to be completely unprepared for the new Russian challenge for another reason: NATO countries have not yet been able to develop a common approach to the threat. The US and individual EU countries are fighting each attack separately. When the Russians carry out sabotage in France, it is Paris’ problem to deal with it. When a warehouse in Estonia explodes, it is Tallinn’s problem. This makes it possible for the Kremlin to carry out such operations at relatively low cost.”
The publication adds that so far Russia’s sabotage campaign is primarily aimed at disrupting the Western military supply chain to Ukraine and weakening Western support for the country, however, “Russia’s actions also point to the future.” Newsweek Poland cites an expert from the British think tank Chatham House in this regard. Keir Giles:
“Kremlin agents are looking for weaknesses that could be exploited if war ever breaks out between Russia and NATO. Everything [со стороны Москвы] “The aim is to test the sustainability of European logistics, especially in Germany and Poland. They are looking at the weaknesses of the systems that should control the movement of NATO reinforcements to the east in the event of a conflict.”
In the event of such a war, the Russians will try to completely cut off energy supplies and telecommunications systems, the publication predicts. And here, the media continues, numerous “dress rehearsals” are already underway. Thus, according to analysts, as a result of Russian actions, some navigation systems are becoming less and less available in the Baltic and Black Seas. In addition, in northern Norway, Russian GPS jammers not only disrupt air traffic on a daily basis, but also hamper the work of police and emergency services. Flights between Finland and Estonia have been repeatedly cancelled or suspended for some time.
“There is no hope that the situation will improve in the near future. Most Russian sabotage operations require a long preparation. What is happening today is that Russian services began to launch six months ago or earlier. And there are no signs that the Kremlin has softened its plans.” – concludes Newsweek – Poland.
A British political scientist Marcos Galeottiwho specializes in “security issues with Russia,” is convinced that the situation will only get worse:
“First of all, we are starting to see more coordination of these activities. So far it has been almost semi-accidental. A shopping mall here, a cyber attack there… Today we are starting to get signs that the Russians are realising that by combining their efforts they will achieve much more. It is enough to carry out a physical attack in a certain place and at the same time a cyber attack to block the emergency services systems. And then add a disinformation campaign, for example, claiming that it was done by “drunk Ukrainians”. This is typical of the Russians: they tend to start off rather clumsily, but, unfortunately, over time they become professionals.”
