Anxiety looms over Europe as Russia steps up ‘hybrid warfare’
Spanish outlet El Mundo reported that the CIA has warned Spain, France and Italy that Russia may be developing plans to strike them with long-range drones launched from merchant ships, citing Lithuanian intelligence officials. The report landed alongside a string of fresh incidents: a suspected sabotage fire at a Starlink satellite station in Poland, NATO jets scrambled over Poland and Romania, a suspected drone landing in Romania, and Poland evacuating Ukraine border crossings.
Italy's defense minister downplayed the report, saying there was no evidence of Mediterranean-launched attacks, while the European Commission said it wasn't aware of any specific CIA alert but found the general warning unsurprising. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used a state-of-the-union speech to call the recent drone incident at Germany's Leipzig/Halle airport proof of Russian escalation, describing hybrid threats as ‘less and less hybrid and less and less threats.’
The pattern includes arson at an Estonian drone manufacturer, explosions at weapons plants in Bulgaria and Italy, and repeated cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea, all in recent months.
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