Russia intensifies hybrid war beyond Ukraine, rattling Europe 

European leaders are raising alarm that Russia is intensifying its years-long hybrid war against NATO member states, lashing out as it struggles to make decisive gains in its nearly five-year war against Ukraine. 

Officials say the attacks against European countries include sabotage against infrastructure, targeted violence against political opponents or perceived enemies, and hostile influence operations ranging from bribery, election interference to disinformation campaigns. 

In the U.S., members of Russia’s intelligence service plotted assassinations of political dissidents and Ukraine supporters, according to details recently revealed in an indictment by the Department of Justice. The accused remain at large. 

“It’s full scale,” Latvia’s Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said in an interview with The Hill. 

She described Russia’s actions as a subconventional war against Europe and the U.S. — moving beyond what’s been described as the Kremlin’s “hybrid” or “gray zone” warfare against NATO.

“Those activities cannot be called hybrid anymore because they are actual attacks,” she said. 

The public awareness campaign is a key element of Europe’s counterresponse, working to fortify its defenses against such attacks without escalating into a kinetic war with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Of the three Baltic states, Latvia has the distinction of combating hybrid warfare on two borders, both Russia and Belarus. Braže described suspected acts of Russian sabotage in the country as arson on munition factories and warehouses storing arms for Ukraine. And Belarus’s authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has weaponized migration to put pressure on Baltic borders. In August, Latvian authorities said they discovered a tunnel used by migrants to cross over from Belarus. 

“It’s an organized migrant activity against the external border of NATO and the EU,” Braže said, describing it as a scheme run by Belarus’s security forces and with ties to Russia. 

Another key part of Europe’s defense against Russia is increasing support for Ukraine. This includes weapons, but also the financial backing to support its war-battered economy, and sanctioning and isolating Russian businesses and officials supporting Putin’s war.  

President Trump has taken a different track, reaching out to Putin with flattery and reportedly offering economic partnerships without demanding a ceasefire or war-end. Trump earlier this month signed into........

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