Western intelligence agencies are warning that Russia has significantly intensified its campaign of assassinations and attempted killings across Europe, marking what officials describe as the most aggressive phase of Moscow's extraterritorial operations since the Cold War era.
According to the Associated Press, multiple senior intelligence officials from NATO countries have confirmed a sharp uptick in Russian-directed assassination attempts targeting dissidents, defectors, and individuals deemed threats to Vladimir Putin's regime.
The escalation represents a fundamental shift in Moscow's calculus regarding the violation of European sovereignty. Where once such operations were conducted with at least nominal deniability, Russian intelligence services now appear less concerned with diplomatic consequences.
The 2018 Salisbury poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with the Novichok nerve agent shocked the world and prompted coordinated expulsions of Russian diplomats. Yet that incident, which killed British citizen Dawn Sturgess and left Nick Bailey seriously ill, now appears as merely an early indicator of what was to come.
Intelligence sources speaking on condition of anonymity cited multiple disrupted plots across Germany, France, Poland, and the United Kingdom over the past 18 months. The methods range from poison to staged accidents to outright armed attacks, executed or coordinated by Russian military intelligence (GRU) and the Federal Security Service (FSB).
What distinguishes the current wave from previous operations is both volume and brazenness. Officials note that Moscow previously conducted such operations sparingly, reserving them for the highest-value targets. The expansion suggests either a growing list of perceived threats or a deliberate strategy of intimidation aimed at Russian expatriate communities across .
