International NATO advisor: hybrid attack with many victims possible
A NATO official has warned of an unconventional attack on the alliance with many victims or significant economic damage. Attacks in the form of sabotage, murder plots or damage to infrastructure have increased, said James Appathurai, who is responsible for strategies to defend against hybrid attacks at NATO and also advises the Secretary General, in an interview with Sky News.
29.12.2024, 16:33
SDA
The broadcaster published excerpts of the interview in a report dealing with Russia's hybrid warfare. In the clips shown, Appathurai does not mention Russia itself, but says in response to a question about the risk of war between NATO and Russia: "There is a real prospect that one of these attacks will cause a significant number of casualties or significant economic damage." NATO must be prepared for this in order to know what to do then.
There have already been up to a hundred such attacks, but many have also failed, said Apparthurai. "We are now experiencing what would have been completely unacceptable five years ago, but we have become more and more accustomed to it." This is very dangerous. A characteristic of hybrid attacks is that those responsible are difficult to identify and hold accountable.
In the Baltic Sea, underwater infrastructure has recently been damaged more frequently. A few days ago, an underwater power cable was damaged off Finland. Investigators are looking into whether this could be a case of sabotage. Investigators are focusing on a ship that the EU associates with Russia. Following the failure of the cable, NATO announced its intention to strengthen its presence in the Baltic Sea.
