For years, Russian intelligence services have been trying to weaken Western democracies. To date, they have mainly focused on political and online influence, and digital espionage and sabotage. Recently, however, there have been strong indications that the Russians are turning to physical sabotage to, among other things, frustrate military support to Ukraine. According to estimates from three European countries, seen by the Financial Timesit involves an ‘aggressive and coordinated approach’.
The recent examples are numerous. In the United Kingdom, for example, two Britons were arrested at the end of April on suspicion of arson at a warehouse with aid supplies for Ukraine. Public prosecutors accuse the men of working for Russia. Earlier that month, two German-Russian men were arrested in Germany for allegedly planning to commit bombings and arson at military bases on behalf of the Russian secret service.
About the author
Maarten Albers is an economics reporter for de Volkskrant. He writes about agriculture and the food industry, among other things.
The Netherlands not protected
Last summer, Polish authorities revealed attempts by the Russian military intelligence service GRU to sabotage Western arms shipments to Ukraine in that country, for example by derailing trains. The Russians tried to recruit people locally via Telegram to carry out the sabotage.
Last Saturday, television channels in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland reported that Russia was planning to sabotage wind farms, gas pipelines and telecom cables in those countries. Civilian and military ships are said to be busy mapping the offshore infrastructure of these countries in order to be able to strike at a desired time.
The Netherlands also does not seem to be exempt from Russian sabotage plans. The investigative journalism program Pointer reported on Saturday that Russia is using fishing vessels to spy in the Eemshaven. The ships moor there every two weeks close to a military site. Eemshaven is home to eleven of the fifteen internet cables that connect Europe with America.
In Sweden, authorities are also investigating a series of train derailments. These may be the result of sabotage by another state. According to Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka, Russia has made ‘thousands’ of attempts to sabotage the European train network, including in its own country.
In addition to trains, the Russians also seem to be targeting air traffic. GPS jamming over the Baltic Sea, preventing planes from landing, has increased in the past two years and Russia is suspected to be behind it. Finnair airline canceled all flights to the Estonian city of Tartu last week for this reason and accused Moscow of sabotage. The Estonian domestic security service also suspects Russia of responsibility for attacks on the cars of a minister and journalists.
‘High risk of damage’
According to Keir Giles, an analyst at the think tank Chatham House, it is clear that the Russians are becoming more active in the field of sabotage. “It’s unclear whether that reflects the Russians throwing more resources at it, being sloppier and getting caught, or whether Western counterintelligence has simply gotten better at detecting and stopping it,” Giles told the Financial Times.
In any case, European services are increasingly speaking out more clearly about Russian activities. Thomas Haldenwang, boss of Germany’s domestic security service BfV, recently said that the risk of sabotage by other states has been “significantly increased” and that Russia appears willing to carry out operations on European territory with a “high risk of damage.” NATO also expressed its concerns last week about increasing ‘hostile activities on the territory of the alliance’ by Russia.
Giles suspects that the aim of the attacks is primarily to disrupt society and in some cases spread disinformation. ‘And then there is the knowledge that Russia gains from these attacks for when they really want to paralyze Europe. They are exercises.’
