Europe is now caught somewhere between war and peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In recent weeks, drones appearing mysteriously above airports and halting flights have made headlines. Those are just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Germany alone has three drone incursions<\/a> a day on average\u2014over military installations, defense-industry facilities and critical infrastructure points\u2014according to a previously unreleased tally by German authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drones are part of an intensifying barrage that European leaders suspect Russia is directing at the continent over its support for Ukraine. It includes sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are not at war\u201d with Russia, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said recently, \u201cbut we are no longer at peace either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Russia and the West\u2019s other adversaries, including China, Iran and North Korea, small-scale action can yield big payoffs. Moscow is bogged down militarily in Ukraine and so would struggle to engage members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in conventional combat. Instead, malicious activities that are often dubbed hybrid war or gray-zone conflict let the Kremlin challenge its adversaries without overt hostilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> Michael Claesson, Sweden\u2019s chief of defence staff, told the Financial Times that Russia was combining "sabotage, special operations, even attacks against individuals" with attacks on critical infrastructure and "exploiting vulnerabilities in the information environment" in order\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Qtlm7vvZum<\/a><\/p>— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>