As NATO allies announce the delivery of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine to bolster its air defenses, Russia, unwilling to face NATO on the battlefield, is waging a hybrid war.

Russia has been engaged in a “bold” sabotage operation against NATO member states for more than six months, targeting arms supply lines for Ukraine and the decision-makers behind it, according to a CNN report citing senior NATO official.

With arson at warehouses linked to weapons for Ukraine, surveillance cameras at the sites where NATO trains Ukrainian troops, vandalism of ministerial cars, Moscow seeks to weaken Western resolve to support Ukraine and undermine unity in the West.

Many security officials across Europe report that Russian agents they hire local amateurs to undertake high-risk crimes on their behalf.

A NATO official told CNN that they had observed “an unprecedented escalation and spread of Russia’s hybrid warfare” over the past six months, which included “physical sabotage” of NATO’s weapons supply line destined for Ukraine. “It takes place everywhere, from the point of production and origin, to storage, to the decision makers, to delivery.” “Russia is trying to intimidate the allies,” he points out.

Russia has dismissed the claims as unfounded, but Russian sabotage and hybrid warfare is on the agenda of NATO’s 75th anniversary meeting in Washington. However, it is unclear how member states will publicly express their anger at what analysts describe as the Kremlin’s new “shadow war”, as they may not wish to hand Moscow a propaganda victory or trigger the alarm over a series of breaches. of security across Europe.

A “pretty dangerous game”

The senior NATO official said that Russian sabotage of NATO states amounted to a “pretty dangerous game if Russia believes that its tactics cannot trigger the provision of NATO Article 5 which states that an attack on a member state constitutes attack the entire alliance. “Finding where that line is is a difficult and dangerous calculation,” the official said, adding that the intrusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine shows that the head of the Kremlin has not always received good military advice.

Russia uses a “full range” of hybrid operations, the official added. “We see everything from high-end operations in Europe that can cost up to €400,000 to gather intelligence to a few thousand euros to hire thugs.

The incident on Russia’s border with NATO, in Estonia, where 10 suspected Russian agents were arrested in February after vandalizing the interior minister’s car, is also part of the shadow war being waged by Moscow. Estonian officials have said it is a long-running campaign by Moscow to destabilize its neighboring NATO member country.

GPS has been jammed in recent months to prevent civilian aircraft from landing, and even buoys demarcating part of Russia’s border with Estonia are disappearing, amid calls from Moscow to reassess the maritime border.

Harrys Puusepp, a spokesman for KAPO, Estonia’s internal security agency, told CNN that Russian activities have escalated in recent months.

The F16 and Russia’s threats

In a development that is expected to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense and therefore its defense capabilities against Russian aggression, NATO through the mouth of the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkenannounced that Alliance countries have begun delivering F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

“I am pleased to announce that as we speak, the transfer of F-16 aircraft from Denmark and the Netherlands” to Ukraine is underway, the US top diplomat said, speaking at an event on the sidelines of the summit of NATO. “These aircraft will fly in Ukrainian skies this summer,” he added.

The decision drew the ire of Moscow, which said Washington was leading a “war gang”. The move is expected to further escalate tensions between the West and Russia as Moscow has signaled that it will view the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as a deliberate signal from NATO to the nuclear sphere, as the fighters are capable of being equipped with nuclear weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had also issued a warning about the delivery of F16s to Ukraine, who in his statements had stated on the subject that Russia does not intend to attack any NATO country, but if the West offers F-16 warplanes to Ukraine these will be shot down by Russian forces.

In fact, he had declared that if they are used by airports of third countries, they become legal targets, wherever they are.