Russia's Baltic Sea Hybrid Warfare Is Backfiring: US Official

Russia's "malign activities" in Europe's Baltic Sea region are having the "opposite effect" to that intended by President Vladimir Putin, the U.S. ambassador to NATO has said.

Ambassador Julianne Smith told reporters at a Wednesday briefing that the looming Russian threat in northern Europe is "not succeeding in creating any hesitation on the part of NATO allies as it relates to their support for Ukraine."

Putin and his allies in Moscow, she said, are "trying to do is to do everything they can in their power to slow or prevent the flow of assistance to Ukraine, to call into question Western support—political support, security assistance—to the people of Ukraine," Smith said.

"What I can assure you of is that those tactics are not succeeding," Smith added. "In fact, I think what I've felt here in recent weeks and months is a doubling down among allies to secure additional assistance for Ukraine."

Russia has long engaged in covert and hybrid operations against its adversaries in the Baltic and Nordic regions. Such efforts are particularly pronounced against bordering nations like Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland.

The Kremlin's threats against its neighbors have intensified since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a move that prompted both Finland and Sweden to abandon decades of official neutrality and join the NATO alliance.

Alleged recent Russian hybrid operations include the "weaponization" of migrants flows across NATO borders, the use of electronic warfare equipment to interfere with regional GPS signals, proposed changes to Russia's maritime borders, and the removal of buoys marking the border between Russia and Estonia along the Narva River.

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