More than 70 sabotage attacks carried out in the UK since 2022 have been linked to Russia, British media reported, citing European intelligence officials.
Points of attention
- Over 70 sabotage attacks in the UK since 2022 have been linked to Russia, with the Kremlin recruiting teenagers and young men through social media as perpetrators.
- The primary goal of these sabotage operations is to inflict economic losses, disrupt supplies, and create vulnerability in Europe's rear areas.
Russia carried out more than 70 sabotage operations in Britain in 2022-2025
The Kremlin is using a new tactic — recruiting teenagers and young men through social media, turning them into perpetrators of arsons and explosions.
This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation.
Due to the mass expulsions of Russian intelligence officers from Britain after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in 2018, Russia lost its human resources, so the Kremlin switched to a more flexible model.
The targets of the attacks are warehouses, logistics hubs, telecommunications hubs, and businesses, including those that aid Ukraine. The goal is to cause economic losses, disrupt supplies, and create an atmosphere of vulnerability in Europe's rear areas.
Such actions are a form of state terrorism through private actors.
European intelligence agencies warn that the new tactics of Russian sabotage are more dangerous: untrained perpetrators often operate near residential areas and warehouses, trying to assemble improvised explosive devices without understanding basic safety rules, thereby increasing the risk of mass casualties.
