russian aggression. russian propaganda. NATO russia. Putin's regime

Over the past year, the number of planned provocations, sabotage, disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks by russia has grown exponentially. The kremlin is serious about testing the unity of NATO members and, in an ideal scenario, dividing them, finding their weak spots and striking them with renewed force. If anyone still thinks that the biggest war in Europe in 80 years is just a matter between russia and Ukraine, then it is worth reading this article in full.

We have already written about putin's regime's most daring operation against the EU and NATO – namely, the attack on Poland by 19 drones on 10 September. Earlier, we wrote about how russia is trying to destabilise the situation in Moldova ahead of the parliamentary elections and use pro-russian movements to form a loyal government. But there are other equally insidious and targeted operations that have been recorded over the past three months.
This year, russia has violated Norway's airspace three times.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said that the incidents occurred in the spring and summer of 2025, lasted from one to four minutes, and were the first in more than 10 years: https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-norvehia-rosia-porushennia-povitrianoho-prostoru/33538670.html 
He noted that it was unclear whether these were deliberate actions or navigation errors, but "regardless of the cause, this is unacceptable." The violations against Norway were smaller in scale than the recent incidents against Estonia, Poland, and Romania, but Oslo is taking them seriously.
As a reminder, on 22 September, airports in two European capitals were closed due to unknown drones – in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Oslo (Norway). It is reported that two to four drones were spotted. In Norway, an alarm was even raised over drones flying over military territory – the Akershus Fortress. Two Singaporean citizens were detained immediately. Law enforcement agencies in both countries are cooperating to establish all the details and identify those behind the provocation.
Fake: Debris from a drone with Ukrainian writing was found in Lithuania.
The fake video is being circulated by russian Telegram channels in order to divert attention from russia's real attacks on NATO countries. As established by Ukrinform fact-checkers, the video is professionally edited, with rapid frame changes, which is not typical for amateur footage: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-factcheck/4037370-rosfejk-u-litvi-znajsli-zaliski-ukrainskogo-drona.html This indicates that it is staged.
The original source of the video is the TikTok account katelynltu, which was created specifically for this publication. The fact that it is a bot is also evidenced by the avatar itself, which is used by several other fake accounts.
The video also features alexei stefanov, a correspondent for the russian propaganda channel RT, who was previously expelled from Latvia for propaganda: https://baltija.eu/2025/03/25/aleksej-stefanov-god-realnoj-tyurmy-v-latvii-za-plakat-rossiya-ya-s-toboj/ His participation confirms that this action was planned.
It should be noted that since the end of July, russia has been regularly carrying out drone attacks on the Baltic states and Northern and Eastern Europe. The Lithuanian government has confirmed that russian drones have deliberately violated their airspace. russia has also attacked Poland and Romania with drones.
Such fakes are intended to shift responsibility for air attacks from russia to Ukraine. The governments of these countries have accurate information about the origin of the drones, but russia is targeting its propaganda at those citizens in Europe who do not trust their governments and are more receptive to "alternative versions."
The kremlin is conducting a coordinated campaign against Finland.
The russians' goal is to create an "information base" for military provocations or a large-scale attack. This is stated in a report by ISW analysts.
On 18 September, the head of the foreign ministry of the aggressor state, sergey lavrov, said that "there is nothing left of Finland's neutrality and revanchism is literally growing." On the same day, putin's special representative Ivanov said that relations between russia and Finland are "practically destroyed" and will not improve. And the head of the parliamentary defence committee, andriy kartophalov , called Finland "a hotbed of fascism greater than Ukraine" and threatened "any possible developments."
All these statements are being disseminated simultaneously by the state agency TASS, indicating a coordinated information operation. The wording used in relation to Finland is practically identical to that used by moscow against Ukraine before the full-scale invasion.
Hackers controlled by the kremlin attack Polish hospitals and water supply systems.
Poland records 20-50 cyberattacks on critical infrastructure every day, Deputy Minister of Digitalisation Dariusz Stundziński told The Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/3e7c7a96-09e7-407f-98d7-a29310743d28
Most of them are repelled, but some have been successful: attackers have stolen medical data and forced hospitals to temporarily shut down. Last month, hackers attempted to cut off the water supply in one of Poland's largest cities, but the attack was stopped in time. In response, the government is allocating a record €1 billion to cybersecurity in 2025. It is putin's regime's aggression that is forcing Poles to reallocate significant funds to security instead of social programmes and investments in economic development.
However, similar attacks have also been recorded in other European countries. In the Czech Republic, in particular, there have already been dozens of such cases. The goal is not simply to hack IT systems, but to cause real physical damage and cause reservoirs to overflow or uncontrolled water releases, according to Radio Prague International: https://ruski.radio.cz/rossiyskie-hakery-atakuyut-sistemu-vodosnabzheniya-v-evrope-v-tom-chisle-v-8858175 . So far, most of the attacks have not led to serious consequences.
Experts estimate that the probability of an increase in attacks is about 50%. Even after the end of the war against Ukraine, cyberattacks by russian special services on Czech infrastructure are unlikely to stop, and the country's critical infrastructure will remain at risk.
russia is launching spy drones over Germany to track military cargo routes.
The kremlin could use the information gathered by drones to intensify its sabotage campaign in Europe and give russian troops an advantage in Ukraine, writes The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/us/politics/russian-drones-weapons-routes.html
The publication recalls that earlier actions by russian agents led to fires at warehouses in the United Kingdom, an attack on a dam in Norway, attempts to damage cables in the Baltic Sea, and a series of other operations designed to undermine European support for Kyiv.
American and European intelligence agencies have been forced to tighten security measures. Among other things, warnings from the US helped prevent a plan to send explosive devices via cargo planes. In May this year, three Ukrainians were detained in Germany and Switzerland on charges of collaborating with russian special services.
However, drone flights over the German state of Thuringia are causing considerable concern. US and German officials believe that they are being controlled by russian intelligence officers or recruited agents.
kremlin "troll factories" are systematically attacking European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
russian bot farms are flooding the internet with content aimed at dividing public opinion and spreading disinformation. According to Politico, this destabilisation scenario was tracked by disinformation researchers at the Finnish company CheckFirst, who analysed 20,857 publications and articles posted since March 2025: https://www.politico.eu/article/ursula-von-der-leyen-confidence-vote-russian-propagand-confidential/
The number of daily publications increased by 60%, subdomains by 20%, and cross-posting increased by 3-5 times. All this serves one purpose: to convey to the audience the idea that "Ursula is bad."
It should be noted that the international analytical centre Globsec has called the Pravda network "a highly organised disinformation ecosystem that is rapidly expanding and designed to promote pro-Kremlin narratives globally": https://www.globsec.org/what-we-do/publications/global-offensive-mapping-sources-behind-pravda-network This "media" outlet is also on our blacklist of russian propaganda sources.
russia is hiring front men instead of professional spies.
The Associated Press, citing sources in the special services, wrote that due to the mass expulsion of russian spies from the West, moscow has begun to involve outsiders — often inexperienced — in sabotage operations. The system has become more flexible: instead of career officers, there are now front men. Most of the operatives today are not russian. Many of them are citizens of neighbouring countries who have no criminal record and agree to cooperate for a few thousand dollars.
According to analysts, perpetrators sometimes act on their own discretion, which makes attacks even more dangerous. russian intelligence tries to control the process: it specifies targets and methods of execution and requires results to be recorded. But this control does not always work.A telling case is the trial in London concerning the arson of a warehouse commissioned by Wagner Group operatives. A russian intelligence agent recruited a British citizen, who in turn recruited several other people. But after the attack, the supervisor announced that it would not be paid for because it had not been approved.
russia is increasingly recruiting agents via Telegram for crimes in Europe.
Agents recruited by russian special services are tasked with setting fires, filming military facilities, and carrying out sabotage on important logistics routes. Politico has published an article referring to a report by the Czech Security Service (BIS): https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-hiring-migrants-fear-weaken-trust-state-czech-republic-secret-service-telegram-arson-military/ In the Czech Republic, russia is trying to use migrants to sow fear, destabilise society and undermine trust in European governments.
"Often, recruited actors on Telegram do not even suspect that they are acting in the interests of the kremlin, as they are recruited through intermediaries," the BIS emphasises. In addition, the report mentions the kremlin's use of the russian Orthodox Church for such tasks, which is part of the hybrid war that the Kremlin is waging against the entire West.
russia plans to spend $1.1 trillion on rearmament by 2036.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, this will be russia's largest armament programme since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, stressed that russia is undergoing "total mobilisation of politics, the economy and society in preparation for a future large-scale war." The russians are actively conducting hybrid information and cyber operations on the territory of other states. Through controlled media and "opinion leaders," they are interfering in civilised democratic processes.
"Moscow aims to impose its own vision of the future world order on countries, where 'great' powers, primarily the russian Federation, have complete power, a monopoly on all critical resources, and decide the fate of the world in a closed circle," Budanov said.
At the same time, russia is building up weapons production capacity in north korea. In the future, Pyongyang could use Shahed-type strike drones against South Korea, as well as transfer them to russia to support the war against Ukraine or in any other conflicts. This is reported by The War Zone: https://www.twz.com/news-features/russia-giving-shahed-136-attack-drone-production-capabilities-to-north-korea-budanov 
Today, north korea and russia are modernising KN-23/KN-24 ballistic missiles, which the russians fire at Ukraine on a daily basis. What is most outrageous is that these deadly missiles contain more than 90 Western components from the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and China. Many deaths could have been avoided if these countries had fully complied with sanctions. Without Western components, north korea would never have been able to put these weapons into production. More details in the 24TV article: https://24tv.ua/raketi-kn-23kn-24-yak-kndr-viroblyaye-snaryadi-iz-detaley-zahodu_n2837488#1749112284505
Therefore, we can conclude that putin's regime's aggression is not limited to Ukraine. The dwarf dictator dreams of restoring a "great empire" that will be the main power on the continent and, accordingly, accumulating resources to strengthen its influence in Africa, the Arctic and South America.
Based on materials from Spravdi.ua, Stopfake.org, EuVsDisinfo.eu