this post was submitted on 09 May 2025
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78
‘These people are disposable’: how Russia is using online recruits for a campaign of sabotage in Europe (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 8 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
2 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

[...]

European intelligence agencies say Moscow has launched a campaign of sabotage, arson and disinformation against the continent. Sometimes, it is focused on specific targets related to support for the Ukrainian war effort, but more often it is simply aimed at causing chaos and unease.

In Lithuania, an Ikea shop was set on fire; in Britain, seven people were charged over an arson attack on a business with links to Ukraine; in France, five coffins inscribed with the words “French soldiers in Ukraine” were left under the Eiffel Tower; in Estonia, the car windows of the interior minister and a local journalist were smashed. There have been numerous suspicious fires in Poland, including one that destroyed a huge shopping centre in Warsaw.

Taken together, the incidents point to how Russia’s intelligence services have moved towards a new kind of attack on the west, one that is dangerous and violent but also piecemeal and hard to prove.

On the ground, the acts are carried out by people who are recruited online and often paid in cryptocurrency. Some know exactly what they are doing and why, others do not realise they are ultimately working for Moscow. The professional intelligence officers who direct the operations never need to leave Russian territory.

[...]

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 hours ago

Perhaps related to the electricity outages in Spain Portugal and UK (Heathrow) too ?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 hours ago

but more often it is simply aimed at causing chaos and unease.

Russia's hybrid warfare has been doing this for a loooong time; what's new is that they seem to focus more on physical attacks instead of "mere" disinformation trolling.

piecemeal and hard to prove.

Unfortunately it will always be hard to prove, until Russia allows co-operation with foreign investigators. Which, of course, they won't do because they know well enough that any serious investigation would ultimately point to the Kremlin. Deniability. Plausability doesn't matter to them - the more rumors and finger-pointing the better.

This account of Russia’s sabotage offensive is based on thousands of pages of court documents from Britain and Poland, interviews with current and former security and intelligence officials in several European countries and the US, and discussions with people who knew some of the perpetrators.

“It’s easier to deal with spies under diplomatic cover or even [deep-cover] illegals,” said one senior European security official.

See, I know they're right. No doubt in my mind. I just hope we ever get to the point that this is unambiguously proven. Not that this will make tankies and such shut up, but still, facts are facts.