Russia wants to drain Europe's resources with its sabotage actions – AP
Recently, Russia has carried out at least 145 incidents that, according to Western officials, are part of a campaign of destabilization in Europe orchestrated by Russia.
The Associated Press stated this in an article, according to Ukrinform.
Western officials who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity say the campaign, ongoing since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, is intended to deprive Kyiv of support, create divisions among Europeans, and expose weaknesses in the continent's security systems.
So far in this hybrid war, most known acts of sabotage have caused minimal damage. However, officials note that each act – from vandalism of monuments to cyberattacks and fires at warehouses – drains valuable security resources. The head of a major European intelligence service said that investigating Russian interference takes as much time as investigating terrorist attacks.
Although the campaign is a heavy burden on European security services, it costs Russia almost nothing, the sources add. That's because Moscow is carrying out cross-border operations that require European countries to cooperate extensively on investigations — while often using foreigners with criminal backgrounds as cheap proxies for Russian intelligence operatives. That means Moscow notches up a win just by tying up resources — even when plots aren't successful.
Over the past year, AP spoke with more than 40 European and NATO officials from 13 countries to document the scale of this hybrid war. AP noted a sharp rise in arson and explosions in Europe – from one in 2023 to 26 in 2024. In 2025, six such incidents have been recorded so far. Last year, there were three cases of vandalism, and this year – one. However, the data may be incomplete, as not all incidents are made public and linking them to Moscow can take several months. Nonetheless, this spike aligns with officials' warnings that the campaign is becoming more dangerous.
The countries most frequently targeted, according to the map, border Russia: Poland and Estonia. Several incidents have also occurred in Latvia, the U.K., Germany and France. All are major supporters of Ukraine.
The European official, a senior Baltic intelligence official and another intelligence official said the campaign noticeably calmed in late 2024 and early this year. Their analysis showed Moscow likely paused the campaign to curry favor with U.S. President Donald Trump's new administration. It has since resumed at full pace.
"They are back to business," the European official said.
According to the Baltic official, while Russian intelligence organizes operations, they often rely on recruited agents – frequently with criminal records or ties – who assign tasks to local saboteurs. Using criminals allows Russia to avoid risking highly skilled intelligence agents, many of whom cannot be deployed because European countries have expelled dozens of Russian spies. Some individuals are recruited in European prisons or immediately after release, the official said.
The sheer number of plots overwhelms some law enforcement agencies, but Moscow's campaign has also strengthened cooperation between countries, a European official said. For example, prosecutors from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have established joint investigative teams to probe attacks orchestrated by foreign intelligence, said Latvian Special Prosecutor Martins Jansons. However, officials warn that Russia constantly tests new methods. For instance, Belarusian "meteor balloons" carrying cigarettes to Lithuania and Poland have repeatedly disrupted operations at Lithuania's main airport. Officials caution that while they currently transport only cigarettes, in the future they could carry other materials.
As Ukrinform reported, in November, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) recorded 169 pro-Russian influence agents in Europe.