Hybrid Warfare Escalates as Trump Warms Ties with Putin
The West is no longer facing a choice of whether to confront Russia — it is already in the midst of a hybrid war being waged by the Kremlin across multiple fronts, argues Ihor Petrenko, an expert at the Kyiv-based United Ukraine think tank, in his article for The Gaze.
Petrenko outlines a series of alarming developments that reveal the scale and coordination of Russian hybrid aggression, ranging from infrastructure sabotage and espionage to political destabilization and online recruitment of mercenaries and migrants.
“The Kremlin has already been waging a multilevel hybrid campaign against Europe and the United States, using sabotage, disinformation, cyberattacks, political manipulation, and economic pressure,” Petrenko writes.
Evidence is mounting: in the Czech Republic, Russian agents tried to disable railway signaling systems; in Poland, a sabotage group linked to Russia and Belarus was dismantled; in Spain, suspects were arrested for supplying Moscow with dual-use chemicals; and in Germany, a Russian spy ring targeted Ukrainian troops stationed at U.S. bases.
Petrenko warns that Donald Trump’s return to the White House could embolden Russia even further. The former president has already taken steps to scale down support for Ukraine, which the Kremlin sees as an opening for escalation.
“Russia’s strategy is to weaken NATO, undermine EU unity, and influence elections in democratic countries,” the author explains, noting the rise of pro-Russian political forces in Germany, France, and Italy, often backed by covert Russian funding and amplified by disinformation campaigns on platforms like Telegram and X..
Russian intelligence is increasingly recruiting disenfranchised migrants through social media and propaganda — a tactic already seen in France and Germany, where several such individuals have been implicated in organizing riots.
Petrenko calls for stronger coordination between NATO, the EU, and national intelligence agencies, expanded cyber defenses, and more aggressive countermeasures against Russian operatives and energy revenues. He also urges governments to crack down on recruitment networks that exploit migration flows for sabotage.
Read the full article by Ihor Petrenko on The Gaze: West is Already at War: Hybrid Attacks are Intensifying amid Trump's Flirtation with Putin