Russia sabotage campaign hits European, US targets: report

WASHINGTON: Russia has stepped up a sabotage campaign against European as well as US targets on the continent, the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank said in a report Tuesday.

“The number of Russian attacks in Europe nearly tripled between 2023 (12 attacks) and 2024 (34 attacks),” according to the CSIS report, which said these actions “complement Russia´s brutal conventional war in Ukraine.”

Some 27 percent of attacks were against transportation targets, while another 27 percent targeted governments, and 21 percent each were aimed at critical infrastructure and industry, it said.

The main weapons used were explosives, blunt or edged instruments, and electronic attacks, with the report saying the heightened Russian sabotage was a response to Western support for Ukraine and also a result of the lack of consequences for its actions.

Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with the United States and Europe providing billions of dollars in military aid to Kyiv that has helped it hold off Moscow´s forces.

The CSIS report came out on the same day as one from the European Union that said Russia and China were using “massive digital arsenals” to interfere in Western democracies.

Brussels said in its annual report on the subject that it tracked disinformation attacks against over 80 countries and more than 200 organizations last year.

The war in Ukraine was a major target for Russia -- but events such as the Olympics in Paris, elections in Moldova and farmers´ protests in Germany were also in the crosshairs. The EU has become increasingly concerned about Russian interference as part of what it sees as a broader hybrid campaign from Moscow that includes sabotage attacks to weaken the West.