the essential
Bomb attacks, arson, cyberattacks… the Russians are preparing a wave of actions against the West according to various European intelligence services. What are we talking about ? Are we entering a new phase of the conflict in Ukraine? Response elements.
This is an article from Financial Times which ignited the powder on May 5. The British daily exposes reports of an intensification of Russian efforts to damage infrastructure across the European continent and thus engage in open conflict with the West, as written Release.
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The word would circulate between the different intelligence services according to the British daily. Thus, Thomas Haldenwang, the head of the German domestic intelligence services, is said to have warned his French, British and Swedish counterparts of the “risk of acts of sabotage initiated by the Russian state”. An increased risk “with a high potential for human and material damage”, as reported Release.
We are talking here about the threat of bomb attacks, arson and cyberattacks which would aim to sabotage the infrastructure supporting Ukraine (arms factories, etc.), to spread disinformation and to test European defense capability.
Arms factories and railway lines
Acts of sabotage have already been observed in Europe. In Germany, two German-Russians were arrested while trying to attack military and logistics sites. In Wales, people were arrested after setting fire to a warehouse with cargo ready to be sent to Ukraine. In Sweden and the Czech Republic, railway infrastructure was targeted.
Enough to suggest that Russia has moved up a gear in Europe, an assertion which should be taken with a grain of salt according to Keir Giles, a Russia specialist cited in the investigation by the Financial Times. He said: “It’s impossible to say whether this is because the Russians are devoting more resources to it, whether they are more careless and getting caught, or whether Western counterintelligence has simply become better at detecting and stopping these activities”.
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Nevertheless, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that it was making “every effort to strengthen its capacity to adapt to cyber threats and enable the continuity of its activities, in particular in the run-up to the European elections and the Olympic Games. and Paralympic Games in Paris, in conjunction with its partners. France “will use all available levers to counter this threat, while respecting international law”, we can read in the JDD.
