James Appathurai, a Canadian diplomat who serves as NATO’s official in charge of hybrid and cyber warfare, said the 32 member nations are already “water-tight” with what they suspect are Russian hybrid attacks across Europe, the US and Canada. .
He spoke about the fact that activities such as cutting submarine cables, sabotaging buildings and placing incendiary devices inside airplanes have been carried out since Russia launched its aggression against Ukraine in February 2022.
“We can definitely count dozens. Probably up to 100. But there are also thwarted attacks,” said Appathurai, reports Hina.
Appathurai, who is working on NATO’s strategy to counter hybrid warfare, said there was a “real possibility” of an unconventional Russian attack that could cause “significant” casualties.
The scale of the attacks is close to a level that would have been “totally unacceptable” five years ago, he added.
In recent months, there have been a number of incidents in the Baltic Sea, including damage to communication and electrical cables. Finnish officials are currently investigating an incident, and have also seized a tanker carrying Russian oil.
NATO has announced that it will strengthen its presence in the sensitive region where Russia shares a coastline with NATO countries Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
(Vijesti.ba)
www.vijesti.ba
