Governments are scrambling to punish Moscow for a new wave of covert attacks that skirt the line of conventional warfare, as Russia’s suspected sabotage campaign across Europe gains momentum. In just the past month, a drone packed with explosives was found beside a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport, Poland has reported multiple sabotage incidents, and unexplained explosions have targeted defense suppliers to Ukraine. The escalating threats highlight a long‑standing challenge: how to impose real, meaningful costs on Moscow when its strikes remain deliberately below the threshold of open conflict. Policymakers now face the urgent task of developing effective deterrents and response strategies.
Governments now moving faster to impose costs on Moscow for its increasing attacks over support for UkraineRussia’s suspected sabotage campaign across Europe appears to be gathering pace again, confronting governments with a problem they have struggled to solve since the start of the war in Ukraine: how to impose a meaningful cost on Moscow for attacks that remain deliberately below the threshold of conventional war.Over the past month alone, an explosives-laden drone was discovered next to a Ukrainian cargo plane at Germany’s Leipzig airport, Poland has faced suspected acts of sabotage, and a string of unexplained explosions and fires have hit defence facilities supplying Ukraine across Europe. Continue reading...
