From January to May this year, 11 hybrid incidents were recorded in Europe, probably organized by Russian special services, including attempts to blow up fiber optic cables and mobile towers in Sweden – inform experts of the British International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS). For comparison, over 30 incidents were recorded throughout 2024, including attacks on energy, communication, transport, military facilities, waterworks and submarines.
The decrease in the number of diversion acts has been observed since autumn 2024, after the high -ranking American officials warned their Russian colleagues from new hybrid operations, informed the sources of Bloomberg. Contacts in autumn last year They took place in the context of reports that Russia can plan to place incendiary devices on planes flying to the USA.
Bloomberg's sources believe that Vladimir Putin may have tried not to provoke Donald Trump in the first months of his second presidential term. Among the other factors of the interlocutors of the agency mention the tightening of penalties for organizing such actions and the deterrent effect resulting from high -profile lawsuits over the perpetrators of sabers that began in Europe, a possible postponement of the attention of Russian military intelligence GRU towards Ukraine due to lack of strength and resources, as well as a rapid reduction in the number of employees of Russian embassies, thanks to which the attacks began to be impressed with incredible performers and control. Some performers act independently, wanting to impress Russian curators.
In May, Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused Russian special services of organizing arson of a shopping center in Warsaw a year earlier – with suspected participation in sabers from the country, employees of the Russian consulate in Krakow were expelled. At the end of July, Tusk announced that 32 people suspected of cooperation with Russian special services were detained in Poland to conduct sabotage acts.
Also in July, three inhabitants of Great Britain were found guilty of arson in March 2024. The magazine of the company providing goods – including Starlink satellite equipment – to Ukraine.
