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Report: Russia's sabotage operations in Europe have quadrupled since 2023
2025-08-20 16:52:06 / BOTA
Russia has significantly increased its sabotage operations across Europe, according to a new report. The number of attacks on critical infrastructure has quadrupled since 2023.
The findings, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, align with a growing number of media reports, indictments and intelligence warnings that Moscow has made covert sabotage and surveillance operations a top priority, with the aim of destabilizing European governments.
“While Russia has so far failed to achieve its primary goal, European capitals have struggled to respond to Russian sabotage operations and have struggled to find common ground on a unified response, coordinate actions, develop effective deterrents and impose sufficient costs on the Kremlin,” the London-based institute said in a report.
The scale of the so-called hybrid attacks blamed on Russia includes arson, incidents where ships damaged underwater communications cables, disruptions of GPS satellite navigation signals and cyberattacks on computer infrastructure.
Most of the sabotage, according to the report published on August 19, occurred in Ukraine or was linked to European efforts to support or supply Ukraine with military and civilian equipment.
The increase in incidents coincided with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin launched in February 2022, and increased sharply during 2023 and 2024, quadrupling during that period.
The report also found a slowdown in attacks in the first half of 2025, although it is not clear for what reason.
European and Western governments have expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers, many of whom were working undercover as diplomats, since before the invasion of Ukraine began.
This has forced Russian agencies to use proxy or mercenary operations, recruiting people – some of whom were unwitting – to carry out sabotage or other operations.
Last month, a British court convicted three men of setting fire to a London warehouse storing equipment destined for Ukraine. Prosecutors said the plot was orchestrated by operatives linked to the Russian mercenary company Wagner.
In a related incident, three Ukrainians have been charged with attempted arson at properties linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“Russia has exploited loopholes in legal systems through its ‘gig economy’ approach, enabling it to evade accountability and detection. Since 2022 and the expulsion of hundreds of its intelligence officers from European capitals, Russia has been extremely effective in recruiting third-country nationals online to circumvent European counterintelligence measures,” the report said.
Russian officials have yet to respond to the report.
The report also noted that European governments have invested little in maintaining security systems for critical infrastructure, even as fears have grown that the covert campaign could be part of a longer-term Russian effort.
“Some NATO member states have viewed Russia’s unconventional warfare as part of its long-term preparations for a possible military confrontation with NATO,” the report added./ REL
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