GUR warned EU and NATO about Russia preparing new hybrid operations
Russian intelligence services have received a task to intensify activity on the territory of the European Union and NATO countries and are preparing new hybrid operations. Their goal, according to Ukrainian military intelligence, is to weaken support for Ukraine and the capabilities of the North Atlantic Alliance.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported this on October 2. The GUR stated that it has already passed relevant information to foreign partners.
According to the assessment of Ukrainian intelligence, one of the possible tools will be sabotage. To organize it, Russian intelligence services may use agents whom the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and the Federal Security Service previously recruited in European countries.
Among potential targets, the GUR names military facilities, critical infrastructure, and communications systems. According to the intelligence report, Russian intelligence services pay special attention to receiving stations of the Starlink satellite system located in Europe.
Ukrainian intelligence links the alleged operations with Moscow's attempts to simultaneously create additional problems for European countries and hinder further assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, the GUR has not publicly named specific states where such actions may be prepared, their timing, or objects against which concrete plans already exist.
Ukraine's warning came against the backdrop of increasing concerns among European countries regarding Russian activity beyond the immediate combat zone. In recent months, NATO has also repeatedly stated an increase in the number of sabotage acts, cyberattacks, interference with electronic systems, and other actions that the Alliance associates with Russia.
On September 29, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte noted that the term "hybrid threats" does not fully convey the nature of what is happening. According to him, it is about actions in the "gray zone," including the use of drones, sabotage, and cyberattacks. Rutte stated that the Alliance has response options that will not necessarily be public or symmetrical.
A similar assessment was published by the Danish Defence Intelligence Service shortly before the GUR statement. In an assessment dated September 24, Danish intelligence stated that it expects a further increase in Russian hybrid activity against NATO and Western states in the coming months. At the same time, the probability of a limited military attack by Russia on a NATO state was assessed as low, but growing.
Thus, the GUR statement concerns not an already committed specific sabotage, but intelligence information about the preparation of possible operations. There is no public independent confirmation of individual plans of Russian intelligence services presented by Ukrainian intelligence yet.
Based on materials: GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, NATO, Danish Defence Intelligence Service
