Russia could carry out increasingly dangerous operations on NATO territory within the coming months, including sabotage attacks and strikes against weapons depots supplying Ukraine, the head of the Czech Republic's intelligence service warned Monday.
Michal Koudelka, director general of the Czech Security Information Service, told a parliamentary security conference that Moscow appeared to be adopting a strategy of "escalation for de-escalation," potentially taking greater risks to pressure Western countries supporting Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
(Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
"This could involve sabotage attacks on the territory of a NATO member state against a facility connected to aid for Ukraine, a drone or missile attack on a weapons depot intended for Ukraine, or, in an extreme case, even a limited military action against one of the neighbouring member states of the Alliance," Koudelka said.
However, he emphasized that the most extreme scenario, a direct Russian military operation against a NATO member state, was not an immediate threat.
"Russia has all its forces concentrated in Ukraine," he explained.
Koudelka said his agency had no specific intelligence indicating an imminent direct threat to the Czech Republic but was closely monitoring Russian activities targeting the country and its NATO allies.
According to the intelligence chief, Moscow's hybrid operations, which can include sabotage, cyberattacks and other disruptive activities, are designed to undermine cohesion within NATO and weaken the alliance's collective response to Russia's war in Ukraine.
His assessment comes amid growing concerns over the possibility that Russia could expand its confrontation with Western countries beyond Ukraine without launching a full-scale military attack against NATO.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that Moscow had no plans to attack any European country and wanted peaceful coexistence with its neighbors.
Russia has also repeatedly denied allegations that it is responsible for sabotage operations or other forms of hybrid warfare targeting European countries.