Signal Russian sabotage actions nearly quadrupled between 2023 and 2024

Summary

According to the report, Russian sabotage actions against Europe almost quadrupled between 2023 and 2024. These actions are calibrated to stay below the level of open warfare and to spread uncertainty and disruption without mass casualties, precisely so as to avoid a direct military response from NATO. Combined with online disinformation, their main aims are to destabilise European governments, erode public support for Ukraine by imposing social and economic costs, and weaken the unity and collective response of NATO and the EU. The report places them within the hybrid warfare Russia wages against Europe as a whole, even though it is officially at war only with Ukraine. Against this backdrop, concern among Dutch citizens about geopolitical and military threats has recently grown.