Latvia Sees Russia Expanding Sabotage Campaign Across Europe

Russia will increase its acts of sabotage against European NATO members in a bid to deter support to Ukraine, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said.

“Russian subconventional activity will increase,” in Europe Braze said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday, citing activities such as cyber attacks, sabotage, hostile information operations and corruption. “These can lead to serious, serious civilian casualties in our countries,” Braze added.

Latvia, a frontline member of the European Union and NATO, is fortifying its eastern border alongside its Baltic neighbors Estonia and Lithuania and raising defense spending to 5% of economic output. The three countries are among the harshest critics of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and strong supporters of Kyiv.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last week that Russia plans to launch “hybrid-style” drone and missile strikes against NATO members supporting Ukraine. Tusk’s comments came as other European leaders warned of a deteriorating security situation.

When asked about those comments, Braze described the current situation in the Baltic states as “not very tense,” crediting NATO membership for their security.

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She emphasized that the main risk is not of a large-scale Russian invasion but of continue sabotage attempts, pointing to a failed drone attack on Germany’s Leipzig airport in August and damage to railway lines in Poland as examples of what the continent could expect.

Russia cannot yet carry out a full-scale war, she said. “They don’t have capacity; their three-day war in Ukraine is now in its fifth year.”