EDITOR'S CORNER: Why Lies and Chaos Spread Fast

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been writing about Russia’s escalating sabotage efforts across Europe — and the ripple effects they’re having on daily life. These aren’t just isolated acts of aggression; they’re calculated strikes that go beyond the physical, shaking Europe’s psychological resilience and undermining a broader sense of stability. Alongside these attacks are sharp, hyper-targeted disinformation campaigns, designed to stoke fear, deepen confusion, and pit communities against each other.

In this post, I want to dig deeper into why Russia is turning to these hybrid tactics in NATO and EU countries — and why they’re working far more effectively than many expected.

WHY SABOTAGE AND DISINFORMATION?

Moscow’s playbook here isn’t new. Sabotage and disinformation were key tools of Soviet-era strategy — but today, they’ve been supercharged. The methods are leaner, faster, and harder to pin down. These are low-cost, high-disruption operations with strategic ambiguity built in. The point isn’t necessarily to blow something up — it’s to sow doubt, destabilize institutions, and erode the sense of safety that underpins open societies.

Where conventional warfare is about territory and force, this brand of aggression targets morale, trust, and perception.

Right now, Russia lacks the military capacity to launch a full-scale conventional war against NATO. What it does have is a growing network of operatives, a robust cyber and propaganda infrastructure, and decades of experience exploiting weaknesses in the West. Asymmetric and psychological tactics give the Kremlin a way to strike deeply — without ever stepping onto a battlefield. They’re deniable, unpredictable, and can scale from petty vandalism to politically charged assassinations.

We’ve already seen a surge in these incidents: plans to put bombs on DHL flights last year, arson in major retailers like IKEA, and trespassing at critical infrastructure sites such as water towers. There are also signs of cyberattacks targeting train systems and other public services in major European cities. At the same time, assassination attempts and threats against exiled dissidents are becoming more common. Russian defectors and vocal critics in countries like Germany, the UK, and across the Baltics are being surveilled, harassed, or even attacked. The message is unmistakable: Russia’s reach is vast, and no one is truly beyond its grasp.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FALLOUT

These operations often target critical infrastructure — airports, telecom hubs, water supplies — but their real power lies in their ability to disturb everyday life. They inject fear into routines, forcing people to wonder if that train, that supermarket, that crowded square could be next. It’s death by a thousand paper cuts — psychological attrition meant to make societies feel fragile and exposed.

And all of this lands on top of existing pressures. European nations are already strained: from economic instability and surging living costs to mounting political frustration over issues like migration, energy, and the war in Ukraine. Social services are stretched thin. Institutions are under fire. Trust is eroding. The sabotage just accelerates the spiral — making room for conspiracy, paranoia, and political radicalization to take hold.

Russia doesn’t need to invent division. It just needs to magnify what’s already there.

We’re seeing this play out across the continent. In Romania, voters increasingly turn to nationalist figures like Călin Georgescu, a man who offered populist dreams backed by Kremlin-aligned funding in the 2024 cancelled Presidential election. In Moldova, pro-Russian candidates exploit discontent with the pro-European government. In Germany, the AfD rides a wave of disinformation and social media influence. In Georgia, the ruling Georgian Dream Party openly courts Moscow’s favor while suppressing dissent at home. It’s not a one-off — it’s a strategy. Same blueprint, different countries.

HYPER-LOCAL DISINFORMATION — WHY IT HITS HARDER IN EUROPE

One reason these tactics work so well in Europe is their precision. We’re not talking about generic, top-down propaganda. This is micro-targeted disinformation: tailored narratives that exploit regional fears, historical grievances, and cultural sensitivities. The result is messaging that feels organic and believable — even when it’s entirely fabricated.

Take Finland, for example. Russian media and troll farms push stories claiming that Finland wants to reclaim Karelia, or that NATO membership makes them more of a Russian target. In the Baltics, narratives focus on Russophobia and discrimination against Russian-speaking minorities. In Western Europe, anti-immigration content floods social media, preying on fears about identity, crime, and economic strain.

Europe’s openness — its free press, democratic institutions, and liberal information laws — makes it especially vulnerable. The diversity of threat perceptions across countries also means response strategies are often fragmented and uneven. That’s another opportunity Russia can — and does — exploit.

CONCLUSION

The Kremlin’s use of sabotage and soft-power tactics isn’t some new invention — it’s a modern extension of old Soviet strategy. But today, the stakes are different. These aren’t just tools of confusion; they’re instruments of influence. And when they work, they don’t just mislead — they reshape political realities in Russia’s favor.

For Western democracies, especially across Europe, these tactics should be sounding alarm bells. The combination of physical sabotage, psychological destabilization, and localized disinformation is designed to wear down societies from the inside out.

It’s not war in the traditional sense. But make no mistake — it’s a campaign. One that’s already underway!