Europe has witnessed a surge in suspected Russian hybrid warfare incidents in recent weeks, impacting the everyday lives of ordinary citizens. This is fueling concerns in European capitals that Vladimir Putin is escalating his intimidation campaign against Ukraine’s partners.
Air travel across the continent was disrupted in early November by a series of bomb threats that targeted airports in major European cities such as Rome, Copenhagen, Prague, Warsaw, and Lisbon. A number of media organizations, including Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ and London-based Sky News, also faced similar threats. European security and intelligence agencies are currently probing whether Russia is behind these incidents.
The recent airport disruption took place alongside a spate of cyberattacks targeting the frozen food sections of supermarkets across Europe, causing millions of dollars worth of damage and leading to temporary food supply issues. Security experts have claimed that this large-scale cyber operation targeting retail chains in multiple European countries bears all the hallmarks of Russian hybrid warfare. However, as with the airport bomb threats, it has not yet been possible to confirm that the attacks were orchestrated by the Kremlin.
In reality, there is a good chance that European officials will never be able to prove that Russia stands behind these incidents. This underlines the difficulty of countering Moscow’s rapidly evolving hybrid warfare operations, which are specifically designed to avoid attribution and remain below the recognized threshold for interstate hostilities.
Russia seeks to maintain a degree of plausible deniability by employing a combination of enhanced cyber capabilities, criminal intermediaries, and disposable agents recruited through Telegram and other social media platforms. This form of shadow war also allows the Kremlin to overcome the practical obstacles created by the large-scale expulsion of conventional Russian agents from Western countries in recent years.
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The Kremlin’s hybrid war against Europe has been underway since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, with a major escalation taking place following the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Moscow stands accused of staging everything from assassinations and cyberattacks to infrastructure sabotage and disinformation campaigns. The primary objective is to sow fear and chaos across Europe in order to destabilize Western governments and deter support for Ukraine.
Over the course of the past year, there has been a marked escalation in suspected Russian hybrid attacks. This has included increasingly frequent violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones and airstrikes targeting shipping in the Black Sea, along with sabotage operations and attacks on infrastructure across Europe. The attempted Russian bombing of Leipzig Airport in August 2026 was widely interpreted as a watershed event marking a dangerous new phase in the Kremlin’s shadow war.
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The most recent incidents signal a shift toward operations aimed at disrupting the daily life of ordinary civilians. By forcing flight delays and cancellations, the Kremlin is able to impact the travel plans of millions. Likewise, targeting supermarket freezer systems prevents people from accessing food and creates a creeping sense of insecurity among European populations that do not feel at risk from Russia militarily.
While the Kremlin inevitably denies everything, Russia’s hybrid war against Europe is widely regarded as an open secret. This suits Moscow just fine. The assumption of Russian responsibility helps influence public opinion throughout Europe, raising questions over the potential domestic security consequences of continued support for Ukraine.
Russia’s campaign of gray zone hostilities is expected to escalate further in the coming months as Moscow seeks to cut Kyiv’s lifeline of European aid. With the Russian army currently struggling to gain ground in Ukraine and unable to secure a decisive battlefield breakthrough, a new victory plan has taken shape in the Kremlin. Putin now intends to bomb Ukraine into submission by targeting critical civilian infrastructure and rendering much of the country uninhabitable. In parallel, he aims to scare off Ukraine’s European backers and convince them to abandon Kyiv by intensifying Russia’s hybrid war.
European leaders appear to be taking this threat seriously, but their countries remain extremely vulnerable to the Kremlin’s brand of gray zone aggression. As the invasion of Ukraine enters a dangerous new phase, Europe should prepare for a prolonged campaign of hybrid hostilities that poses a threat to civilian infrastructure of all kinds.
Maksym Beznosiuk is an analyst whose work focuses on Russia, Ukraine, and international security. He is an associate fellow at GLOBSEC.
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The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.
The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.
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Image: A notice informing customers that refrigerators are temporarily out of service is displayed on an empty refrigerated case after an overnight IT incident affected cooling and freezer systems in a number of Delhaize stores in Belgium and Luxembourg, causing temperature spikes in refrigeration units, in Linkebeek near Brussels, Belgium. November 2, 2026. (REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq)