Many (cyber) attacks likely go unnoticed, with victims unaware that Russian special services were behind the disruption of a process or a service.
When the Kremlin realized in February and March 2022 that the West had not completely abandoned Ukraine, there was a renewed focus on planning hybrid attacks. In other words, the worse things get for Russia on the battlefield, the more they concentrate on hybrid warfare. The arrival of US assistance in Ukraine undoubtedly signifies preparations for a deteriorating situation on the battlefield.
Many (cyber) attacks likely go unnoticed, with victims unaware that Russian special services were behind the disruption of a process or a service.
While Europe does not see us as a party to the conflict, in Moscow's narrative we are. One manifestation of this was Russia's extremely painful reaction to the UK's announcement that Ukraine can use the weapons provided by the UK to attack Russian territory. According to the Kremlin, this makes London a party to the conflict. However, Moscow has in the past tolerated the use of these weapons to attack Crimea, even though it also considers it its own territory. Or does it not, according to their current interpretation?
We need to keep in mind that Russia has been constantly conducting hybrid attacks and will certainly continue to do so in the future. One reason for this is the relatively low cost of such attacks, and secondly, the difficulty of attribution. The targeted country cannot respond in kind, and it is often impossible to identify the orchestrators.
However, there's still one piece of good news in all of this. Russia mostly tends to go too far in its designs, ending up in excesses. In other words, in their exploitation of the so-called fear factor, they go on pushing ahead but forget to stop at the right moment.