EU’s Kallas Says Russian Hybrid Attacks Are Putting Lives at Risk Across Europe

BRUSSELS — Russia is putting lives at risk across Europe through a growing campaign of hybrid attacks, sabotage attempts and airspace violations, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.

Speaking at a news briefing in Brussels alongside Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, Kallas said Europe has seen a spike in Russian hybrid attacks and sabotage attempts in recent weeks. She said Russian missiles and drones violated Moldovan airspace again over the weekend, calling the incursions completely unacceptable, according to Reuters.

Airspace violations reach Moldova

Moldova, which borders Ukraine to the west, has repeatedly found itself exposed to the spillover of Russia’s war. Its defence ministry said three drones crossed into Moldovan airspace on September 30, the day Russia launched a widely anticipated air campaign against Ukraine’s energy grid. That assault hit power facilities and infrastructure around Kyiv and other regions in what was described as the heaviest combined attack on Ukrainian energy sites in months.

The pattern, European officials argue, extends well beyond Ukraine’s immediate neighbors. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned last week that Germany faced more hybrid attacks from Russia, as he pledged continued support for Ukraine ahead of what is likely to be its harshest winter since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

From airports to cyberspace

German authorities have repeatedly warned that Russia is conducting a hybrid campaign combining drone activity and cyber attacks. They have accused Moscow of being behind an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport in August, an allegation that fits a broader Western assessment that Russia is testing European defenses below the threshold of open conflict.

Hybrid tactics — a mix of sabotage, disinformation, cyber operations and airspace provocations — are designed to pressure governments supporting Ukraine while avoiding a direct military confrontation with NATO. For frontline states such as Moldova, which is not a NATO member, the risks are especially acute: falling debris, stray missiles and drone incursions can endanger civilians who are not parties to the fighting.

Moscow has rejected the accusations from Western governments and intelligence services. Russian officials have routinely denied responsibility for sabotage incidents in Europe and have portrayed Western warnings as attempts to justify further military support for Kyiv.

For now, European officials show no sign of softening their support. Kallas’s remarks, delivered beside Moldova’s prime minister, underscored that the EU increasingly views the hybrid campaign not as isolated incidents but as a sustained strategy — one that European governments say they are determined to document, attribute and resist.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.