The US State Department has voiced "incredibly" strong concerns about Russia's ongoing campaign of hybrid warfare against the West, a news report said. This comes amid fears that the situation could escalate after Ukraine reportedly launched US-made long-range ATACMS missiles at targets within Russia, following the Biden administration's decision to lift restrictions on their use.
Russia has promised an "appropriate" response to the new policy. Western officials believe that the thrust of the Russian response may come not on the battlefield in Ukraine but elsewhere in the world, The Guardian reported.
The report indicated citing sources familiar with the discussions on Russia's possible response that potential hybrid attacks could involve a range of strategies, including intensifying sabotage and assassination efforts in Europe or further arming US adversaries in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific regions.
European ministers discussed Russia’s asymmetric warfare during a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, where the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom accused Russia in a joint statement of “systematically attacking European security architecture”.
Speaking in Washington, the US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: “Generally, we are incredibly concerned about hybrid warfare conducted by Russia both in Europe and around the world, and it's something we have been in close coordination with our European allies and other allies and partners around the world.” Referring to the recent sabotage to two under-sea fibre-optic communication cables in the Baltic Sea, Miller added that Russia would be “held accountable” for further such actions.
The first Ukrainian attack with ATACMS struck an ammunition warehouse in Bryansk region. The region lies north-west of the Kursk region where a Ukrainian incursion has been under way since early August.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has promised to give an “appropriate” response to the first use of the US-made missiles, which Vladimir Putin has previously said would be tantamount to Washington and its NATO allies entering direct conflict with Russia.
Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, said he would not be deterred by the new doctrine from supporting Ukraine. “There’s irresponsible rhetoric coming from Russia, and that is not going to deter our support for Ukraine,” he told reporters at the G20 summit in Brazil.
US and European officials have also discussed the potential for Russia to step up a growing campaign of attacks on US and European infrastructure that has escalated significantly since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In the joint statement, the UK and EU ministers said Russia’s hybrid attacks were “escalating” and “unprecedented in their variety and scale, creating significant security risks”.
Intelligence agencies are currently investigating recent damage to the cables in the Baltic Sea, severed in rapid succession earlier this week. Germany’s Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, said on Tuesday that the damage was presumed to be the result of sabotage. “No one believes that the cables were accidentally damaged. I also don’t want to believe that the ships’ anchors caused the damage by accident,” he said. If that conclusion is confirmed, it would have to have been prepared some time before the US gave authorization for ATACMS missiles to be used inside Russian borders.
