Lithuania sees rising risk of Russian hybrid warfare against NATO

Russia’s failure to achieve its military objectives in Ukraine is increasing the risk of hybrid attacks against NATO’s eastern flank, Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said.

“Russia is not succeeding in Ukraine as planned. Naturally, questions are starting to arise within Russian society: what is actually happening? Why are Ukrainian drones and missiles now able to fly over Russia and cause damage?” the minister told reporters, The Baltic Times reports.

Kaunas said growing pressure on Moscow could increase the likelihood of Russia escalating its hybrid operations, including activities targeting countries along NATO’s eastern flank.

He stressed that Lithuania and other eastern flank states must remain highly vigilant. At the same time, Kaunas noted that the overall level of threat has not deteriorated over the past two to three months.

The Lithuanian defence minister has previously warned that Russia could be considering attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic region using Ukrainian-made drones.

His latest comments come amid a growing number of incidents across Europe that Western governments have attributed to Russian-linked hybrid warfare. 

By Vafa Guliyeva