{"id":207723,"date":"2025-01-04T13:19:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T13:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/how-hybrid-tactics-targeted-nato-allies-in-2024-drones-exploding-parcels-sabotage\/"},"modified":"2025-01-04T13:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T13:19:04","slug":"how-hybrid-tactics-targeted-nato-allies-in-2024-drones-exploding-parcels-sabotage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/how-hybrid-tactics-targeted-nato-allies-in-2024-drones-exploding-parcels-sabotage\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hybrid Tactics Targeted NATO Allies in 2024: Drones, Exploding Parcels, Sabotage"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/12\/30\/multimedia\/00nato-hybrid-threats01-vblz\/00nato-hybrid-threats01-vblz-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"How Hybrid Tactics Targeted NATO Allies in 2024: Drones, Exploding Parcels, Sabotage\" title=\"How Hybrid Tactics Targeted NATO Allies in 2024: Drones, Exploding Parcels, Sabotage\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When mysterious drones began appearing over oil rigs and wind farms off Norway\u2019s coast about three years ago, officials were not certain where they came from.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But \u201cwe knew what they were doing,\u201d Stale Ulriksen, a researcher at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy, said in a recent interview. \u201cSome of it was espionage, where they are charting a lot of things. Some of it, I think, was positioning in case of a war or a deep crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The drones were suspected of being launched from Russian-controlled ships in the North Sea, Mr. Ulriksen said, including some ships that were near underwater energy pipelines. Norway could not do much to stop them, he added, given that they were flying over international waters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent weeks, reports of drone swarms over the United States\u2019 East Coast have brought fears of hybrid warfare to widespread attention. Only <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/16\/us\/politics\/drone-sightings-explanations.html\" title=\"\">100 out of 5,000 drone sightings there required further examination<\/a>, U.S. officials said, and so far none are believed to have been foreign surveillance drones. But it is a different story for the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/27\/world\/europe\/drones-us-air-bases-uk.html\" title=\"\">drones<\/a> spotted in late November and early December over military bases in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usafe.af.mil\/News\/Press-Releases\/Display\/Article\/3976904\/us-air-forces-in-europe-air-forces-africa-statement-on-installation-security-in\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">England<\/a> and Germany where American forces are stationed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Military analysts have concluded those drones may have been on a state-sponsored surveillance mission, according to one U.S. official familiar with the incidents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an open investigation. British and German defense officials declined to discuss details of the sightings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Experts said the drones\u2019 presence was indicative of a so-called hybrid or \u201cgray zone\u201d attack against the West, where a range of tactics \u2014 military, cyber, economic and even psychological \u2014 are used to covertly attack or destabilize an enemy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Russia, Iran and other hostile states become increasingly brazen in their hybrid attacks on Western countries \u2014 such as the hacking of sensitive computer systems and alleged assassination plots \u2014 defense officials face a thorny challenge. How to deter such acts without touching off a broader and potentially deadly conflict? And how to assign blame against the attacker when the strikes are designed to evade culpability?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-16704c2c\">\u2018It\u2019s not random; it\u2019s part of military operations.\u2019<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hybrid attacks are not new, but they have escalated in recent years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One of the most visible and potentially deadly incidents came in July, when a series of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/05\/world\/europe\/russia-plot-dhl-planes.html\" title=\"\">packages exploded<\/a> in Europe. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iiss.org\/online-analysis\/online-analysis\/2024\/11\/russias-hybrid-war-in-europe-enters-a-dangerous-new-phase\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Postmarked from Lithuania,<\/a> the parcels contained electric massage machines with a highly flammable magnesium-based substance inside. Two exploded in DHL cargo facilities in Britain and Germany, and the third in a Polish courier firm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/05\/world\/europe\/russia-plot-dhl-planes.html\" title=\"\">Western officials<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.pl\/web\/prokuratura-krajowa\/sledztwo-dotyczace-aktow-sabotazu-zwiazanego-z-uszkadzaniem-obiektow-przemyslowych-infrastruktury-krytycznej\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Polish investigators<\/a> said they believed the packages were a test run by Russia\u2019s military intelligence agency to plant explosives on cargo planes bound for the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are telling our allies that it\u2019s not random; it\u2019s part of military operations,\u201d Kestutis Budrys, Lithuania\u2019s foreign minister, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/english.alarabiya.net\/News\/world\/2024\/11\/05\/lithuania-says-russia-responsible-for-exploding-parcels-that-caused-fires-\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> of the explosions. \u201cWe need to neutralize and stop it at the source, and the source is Russia\u2019s military intelligence.\u201d Russia denies being behind acts of sabotage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Other examples of hybrid tactics include cyberattacks <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/25\/world\/europe\/albania-iran-nato-cyberattacks.html\" title=\"\">on Albania<\/a> in the past several years, which an investigation by Microsoft concluded were sponsored by Iran, and Russia\u2019s unsuccessful attempt to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/17\/world\/europe\/moldova-russia-european-union-election.html\" title=\"\">sway presidential<\/a> elections using disinformation <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usip.org\/publications\/2024\/11\/russian-interference-2024-moldovan-presidential-election-and-constitutional\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in Moldova<\/a> in October and November, according to Moldovan and European officials. European countries are also investigating whether a number of ships intentionally <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/12\/world\/europe\/baltic-fiber-optic-cables-ship.html\" title=\"\">cut<\/a> underwater <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/26\/world\/europe\/finland-estonia-cables-russia.html\" title=\"\">cables<\/a> in recent months in an attempted attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While China, Iran and North Korea have shown a growing appetite for hybrid attacks, officials said that Russia in particular has deployed them as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/26\/us\/politics\/russia-sabotage-campaign-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">covert sabotage<\/a> against NATO allies since the Kremlin\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cRussia has stepped it up across the board, and as a result, it is reaching levels that are of growing concern,\u201d James Appathurai, a NATO deputy assistant secretary general who oversees hybrid warfare strategy, said in an interview. \u201cThey are willing to accept more risk to us, to the safety of our citizens\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Britain, Germany, the United States and Baltic and Nordic countries close to Russia\u2019s border are among the Western countries most targeted by hybrid threats, in part because of their prominent support for Ukraine, officials said. Last year, according to Western officials, American and NATO intelligence agencies uncovered a Russian plot to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/11\/us\/politics\/russia-assassination-plot-germany.html\" title=\"\">kill the chief executive<\/a> of a German weapons giant, Rheinmetall, which has built millions of dollars\u2019 worth of arms and ammunition for Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The drones spotted in Britain in November \u2014 three days after President Biden said Ukraine could launch U.S.-made deep strike missiles into Russia \u2014 were larger and more durable to challenging weather than a hobbyist would be expected to own, and were mostly spotted after nightfall. That is partly why military analysts concluded that a hostile state was responsible, the U.S. official said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then, in early December, around the time the drone sightings in Britain began to taper off, drones appeared above Ramstein Air Base in Germany, one of the largest American military posts in Europe. Some were also reportedly spotted near facilities owned by Rheinmetall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Investigators are considering whether the flights in both countries were \u201cout of a Kremlin playbook,\u201d the U.S. official said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russia has repeatedly denied launching hybrid attacks against NATO, in many cases ridiculing the accusations, even though NATO officials say Moscow has set up a special directorate focused on carrying them out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russian officials also say they are the ones being targeted. \u201cWhat is going on in Ukraine is that some people call it hybrid war,\u201d Russia\u2019s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/mid.ru\/en\/foreign_policy\/news\/1985783\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said in an interview<\/a> with Tucker Carlson in early December. \u201cI would call it hybrid war as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-21139d4\">How to fight a shadow war.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">NATO has begun to create a new strategy to confront hybrid attacks to replace a 2015 policy that it says is now out of date. The new approach, Mr. Appathurai said, will provide a base line picture of recent hybrid attacks to help the alliance measure whether risk levels are escalating.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThat will be important for allies to determine just how serious an incident is, and what their response might be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The European Union is also stepping up its efforts, imposing sanctions in mid-December <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/r.newsletter.consilium.europa.eu\/mk\/mr\/sh\/1t6AVsd2XFnIG8UXFGwRlNFDpZ6OhC\/rFRKGmUUvZqk\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">for the first time<\/a> against people specifically accused of engaging in pro-Russian hybrid threats. It also recently tasked four senior commissioners with countering hybrid threats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Officials and experts agree a wide range of measures are needed to deter and protect against hybrid attacks, including more \u201cnaming and shaming\u201d of adversaries and imposing legal penalties; improving intelligence and technical systems to monitor threats; and military exercises and other displays of force to demonstrate that even covert aggressions will not go unpunished.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But that will require unity among NATO members, especially when attacks cross international borders. And because hybrid warfare is by its nature designed to evade clear attribution of responsibility, officials have hesitated to launch powerful responses without having indisputable evidence of an adversary\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That has emboldened Russia and China to push the limits, according to officials, diplomats and experts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAs long as NATO and European member states disagree on how to respond more assertively to the Kremlin\u2019s hybrid warfare, Europe will remain vulnerable,\u201d Charlie Edwards, a former British intelligence and security strategist, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iiss.org\/online-analysis\/online-analysis\/2024\/11\/russias-hybrid-war-in-europe-enters-a-dangerous-new-phase\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">wrote in November<\/a>. \u201cFailing to act will mean the Kremlin retains the strategic advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/04\/world\/europe\/nato-attacks-drones-exploding-parcels-hybrid.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When mysterious drones began appearing over oil rigs and wind farms off Norway\u2019s coast about three years ago, officials were not certain where they came from. But \u201cwe knew what they were doing,\u201d Stale Ulriksen, a researcher at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy, said in a recent interview. \u201cSome of it was espionage, where they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/12\/30\/multimedia\/00nato-hybrid-threats01-vblz\/00nato-hybrid-threats01-vblz-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7411,168,137233,5138,163809,896,34639,4791,84420,6144,163810,163811,3096,7410,163751,163813,11744,4875,137131,202,33828,1223,13383,13632,1130,1021,163812],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207723"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207725,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207723\/revisions\/207725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}