Russia Is Already Waging Hybrid War in Europe, Latvia Says

Russia’s hybrid war in Europe has already begun, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said, following warnings of Moscow’s attempts to intimidate nations supporting Ukraine.

“It’s not something that will start sometime in the future,” Rinkevics told reporters on Monday at a news conference near the country’s border with Belarus. “It’s happening now.”

There are indications that Russian intelligence and security services are looking at hybrid warfare operations, which could include infrastructure sabotage or false-flag attacks against the Baltic states and Poland, a European intelligence official told Bloomberg last week.

Latvia is currently investigating a fire that broke out last month in a warehouse of a charity that provided aid to Ukraine.

“There’s also a whole series of other cases that are being investigated actively, such as sabotage, various kinds of provocation and espionage,” Rinkevics said without elaborating.

Europe has seen an uptick in suspicious activities such as the recent discovery of an armed drone found near a Ukrainian plane in Germany, charges of attempted assassinations and arson attacks.

Latvia, a member of the European Union and NATO, has also experienced a surge in the number of undocumented migrants trying to enter the country from Belarus. In response, the government in Riga has deployed drones, helicopters more sensors and personnel to the border.

“Right now we’re working on the assumption that we must be ready for any scenario,” Rinksevics said. “We are very, very carefully, together with our NATO allies, monitoring what’s happening beyond our borders.”

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• Germany Sees Russian Covert Attacks as Prelude to Wider Conflict
• Sabotage and Cyberattacks Have Put Europe’s Power Networks on Alert

Topics Europe Russia