Russia’s shadow war in Europe

After Ukraine fired British-made Storm Shadow missiles at military targets inside Russia last month, President Putin asserted his “right” to attack the UK and its Western allies in response. But the truth, said Simon Tisdall in The Observer, is that “Britain and its allies have been under constant Russian attack” for years. Using “sabotage, arson, deniable cyberattacks“, disinformation and influence operations, Putin has menaced the West for its support of Ukraine. His “shadow war” on Nato members may be becoming more intensive and more dangerous, but it is long established. Putin’s aim is to sow chaos, spread fear and division, and to disrupt military production.

Russia’s “grey zone” warfare continues every day, said Edward Lucas in The Times. Last month, unidentified drones “buzzed” four US air force bases in Britain; another shadowed HMS Queen Elizabeth while it approached Hamburg. In the Baltic Sea – fast becoming a geopolitical hotspot – two vital data cables were severed last month, apparently by a Chinese-flagged merchant vessel with a Russian crew member. Closer to home, British intelligence suspects that Russia was behind recent bomb scares in London, said Guy Kelly in The Daily Telegraph. The same goes for an explosion at a weapons factory in Wales in April, and a spate of arson attacks across Europe. A young man from Croydon recently pleaded guilty to attacking a Ukrainian-linked business in east London in March in return for Russian money. “Little by little, day by day, Russia is testing the West’s patience. The question now is whether we’re going to do anything about it.”