Russia Is Waging War on European Critical Infrastructure

Russia’s sabotage efforts across Europe have skyrocketed over the last two years. According to a new report published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Moscow’s use of unconventional warfare methods against Ukraine and NATO member states has become a priority and is aimed at destabilizing European governments. Targeting critical infrastructure like energy, transport, military, and even undersea assets has become Russia’s go-to war strategy. As these types of attacks are difficult to pinpoint and prevent, European nations are struggling to enact a unified response or coordinate action to deter further offenses.

In a comprehensive open-source database shared by IISS, a clear pattern depicting Moscow’s critical infrastructure targeting efforts is highlighted. As stated in the report, “The cumulative impact of Russian attacks on physical targets, on virtual targets and via informational operations has been to undermine Western resilience and divide European societies. The effect has also been to lower the threshold for future escalation and increase the risk of strategic miscalculation on both sides.” While the bulk of Russia’s barrages have targeted assets in Ukraine or are connected to European efforts to supply Kyiv, an overall uptick in this kind of sabotage across the continent is concerning. Considering Europe’s energy infrastructure and, particularly, the European Union grid assets are nearly four decades old and lack critical maintenance and enhancements, these types of attacks could be debilitating if not countered effectively in a timely manner.