Security services across Europe are on alert for "a potential new weapon of Russia's hybrid warfare" - arson and sabotage - following a spate of mysterious fires and attacks on infrastructure in the Baltic states, Germany and the UK, The Guardian.
When a fire broke out at Ikea in Vilnius, Lithuania this month, few gave any notice until the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, suggested it might have been the work of a foreign saboteur.
Investigators have alleged Russian involvement in a fire in east London, a fire that destroyed Poland's biggest shopping mall, a sabotage attempt in Germany and anti-Semitic graffiti in Paris.
While there is no evidence that any of these incidents across the continent have been coordinated, security services believe they may be part of a systematic effort by Moscow to destabilize the West, which has backed Ukraine.
According to European authorities, after the Cold War, foreign intelligence operations consisted of spies, but in the age of social networks, it is easy to hire vandals - for hundreds of euros or with cryptocurrencies.
So great is the concern that these hybrid attacks could be the work of Russia that the issue was raised at a summit of foreign and defense ministers in Brussels this week.
A minister, who asked not to be named, said they were deeply concerned about "sabotage, physical sabotage, organized, financed and carried out by Russian representatives".
Last week, Polish Prime Minister Tusk revealed that authorities had arrested nine people in connection with acts of sabotage allegedly carried out at the behest of Russian services.
He said the crimes allegedly included "beating, arson and attempted arson". Polish investigators are looking into whether Russia was involved in the Warsaw mall fire, a claim the Russian embassy described as a conspiracy theory.
The spokesman for the company "Ikea" has said that investigations are continuing into the source of the fire in Lithuania, but it was among the examples, along with an attempted fire at a paint factory in Poland, that Tusk mentioned in the warning about possible foreign interference.
In April, a Briton was charged with orchestrating an arson attack on two units linked to a Ukrainian businessman on an industrial estate in Leyton, east London, after allegedly being recruited by Russian intelligence. It is alleged that he was "engaged to attack businesses that were connected to Ukraine in order to benefit the Russian state".
On Tuesday, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said at the EU Defense Summit that the country had already been a victim of Russian sabotage.
"They have carried out similar operations in Estonia. They hired 10 people to attack the interior minister's car and a journalist's car. This is normal behavior of Russia. We are sorry to say, but we must understand that Russia is increasingly aggressive towards European countries and also NATO countries", he said.
Six people were arrested soon after, including Russian nationals and dual Russian-Estonian nationals for the attack on Estonia's interior minister and a journalist.
In Germany, there are also suspicions of attacks fueled by foreign intelligence, following a wave of cyberattacks in 2023 by a hacker group linked to Russian intelligence.
Last month, two German-Russian nationals were arrested on suspicion of planning sabotage attacks, including at a military base in Bavaria. The main suspect is accused of planning an explosion, arson and maintaining contacts with Russian intelligence.
Investigators in France are looking into whether graffiti painted on a Holocaust memorial in Paris last week was ordered by Russian security services.
The attacks, European officials fear, add to a disinformation campaign already widespread across Europe. On Wednesday, several schools around Athens were evacuated after a false bomb alert. Police traced it to a Russian server and said the false alarm was intended to "disrupt public order".
EU countries are following these events. Lithuania's National Crisis Management Center (NKVC) has warned businesses, including shopping centers and organizations supporting Ukraine, to increase vigilance.
"The threat level is quite high. We call on the public to stay alert", said the leader of the NKVC, Vilmantas Vitkauskas.
On Monday, the Dutch national coordinator for security and counter-terrorism warned of the risk of subversive operations in the Netherlands, including "espionage and pre-positioning to sabotage vital infrastructure".
In Brussels on Tuesday, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said that Russia is "trying to intimidate" NATO countries, making EU member states vulnerable.
"Yes, we are vulnerable. We have vital infrastructure. We have offshore infrastructure, we have electricity supplies, water supplies, we are vulnerable to cyber attacks. Now we are seeing in some European countries that Russia is trying to destabilize us and also to intimidate us. I think that this has been a way that Russia and also the Soviet Union have worked throughout history, in the 75 years of NATO I think we have seen it often", said Ollongren.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has also pointed the finger at Moscow.
"We have seen several arrests across the alliance and various NATO allied countries of people accused of arson or sabotage. Of course, these are ongoing legal processes. But what I can say is that we have seen increased Russian intelligence activity across the alliance. Therefore, we have increased our vigilance", he said.
