Russia is moving from recruiting individuals to “professional” networks to carry out a sabotage campaign in Europe
The Russian secret services are changing their strategy in Europe and moving from recruiting inexperienced people used for spot operations to forming professional sabotage networks, the Polish internal security service (ABW) warns in a report published on Wednesday.
Russian spies/PHOTO:X
According to Polish authorities, Moscow has been waging a hybrid war against European states for several years, which includes acts of sabotage, arson, vandalism and influence campaigns. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Western officials have linked Russia to more than 150 such incidents in Europe.
In the initial stages of these operations, many of the individuals involved were allegedly recruited online and used as “disposable” agents, sometimes without knowing that they were acting in Moscow's interests. But now, according to the ABW report, Russian services appear to be adopting a more sophisticated approach, based on organized structures and collaborations with organized crime networks.
The Polish agency says it has opened as many espionage investigations in the past two years as it did in the entire period 1991-2023. In total, 62 people were arrested.
“Undeclared War Against the Western World”
The report describes these activities as part of an “undeclared war against the Western world” in which Russian services are increasingly using methods associated with special forces, including reconnaissance and sabotage operations.
According to the ABW, 69 espionage investigations were opened between 2024 and 2025 — the same number recorded in the previous 30-plus years.
“The long-term objective of the Russian Federation remains the disintegration of the Euro-Atlantic structures, the isolation of certain states and their internal, social and economic destabilization”the report states.
Although Poland is considered the main target of these operations, Polish services claim that some activities are also coordinated by Belarus, in close cooperation with Moscow. The report also mentions China's involvement in certain espionage activities.
The authorities in Warsaw warn that the surveillance and infiltration operations carried out on the territory of Poland aim at the preparation of diversionary acts, considered by the ABW “the most serious security challenge” today.
The Polish service states that Moscow seems willing to accept including the risk of civilian casualties in these operations.
The report also highlights what authorities call the “professionalization” of Russian sabotage activities. If in 2023 the Russian services were mainly based on rapid recruitment via the Internet, in the period 2024–2025 the emphasis shifted to the creation of “complex sabotage cells”, connected to closed structures of organized crime.
Russian services prefer people with experience
According to ABW, Russian services now prefer people with experience in security or military activities, including former soldiers, police or mercenaries associated with the Wagner group.
In parallel, Russia would have stepped up its training programs on its own territory, with the aim of training agents for “terrorist activities”, the report claims.
In November 2025, Poland faced what Prime Minister Donald Tusk called an “unprecedented act of sabotage” after explosions and malfunctions on a rail line used for shipments to Ukraine. Two trains, including a passenger train, were affected. There were no casualties.
