Swedish spies warned on Tuesday that Russia was becoming increasingly active around Sweden.
Thomas Nielsen, director of Swedish military intelligence, said Moscow had “stepped up” its hybrid warfare operations and he believed they would continue after the war in Ukraine ended.
“In some cases, Russia has stepped up its operations and increased its presence in our neighborhood — and perhaps has greater risk appetite,” Nielsen said.
Hybrid warfare, including sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation, has become a central feature of Moscow’s escalating hostility to the West, including Europe and the UK.
In November, the Russian spy ship Yantar repeatedly shined a laser on the cockpit of an RAF P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, prompting Defense Secretary John Healey to review rules of engagement.
The Russian spy ship Yantar is seen from a Royal Navy ship tasked with tracking it in the North Sea on November 19, 2025
Nielsen did not mention any specific attacks, but Swedish spy service Muster said on Tuesday that Russia “has developed a variety of methods that can be used within the framework of hybrid warfare.” These allegedly include election interference and intelligence operations.
Russia “continues to develop its capabilities and is ready to take greater risks and exploit them,” Nielsen told AFP, adding: “Including what I would call advanced sabotage. That includes assassination plots, serious arson, and attacks on critical social infrastructure.”
Nielsen noted that hybrid operations have increased significantly since the invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Sweden to join the NATO alliance along with Finland, ending years of military neutrality.
Must say in the review that Russia remains “the main military threat to Sweden and NATO” and warns that Moscow is “strengthening its resources in the Baltic region, as this region is a strategically very important region for Russia both economically and militarily”.
The intelligence agency added that the Baltic build-up “has already begun” but said “the pace will be affected by the course of the war in Ukraine and the Russian economy and its relationship with China”.
Sweden is concerned that Russia may target Gotland, which is less than 200 miles from Kaliningrad, where Russia’s Baltic Fleet is based, and strategically located between Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
In response, Stockholm has ordered a rapid militarization of the island, which was heavily defended during the Cold War.
1706 Gotland
Russia’s hybrid operations are focused on NATO’s eastern flank, which includes Lithuania, which borders Moscow’s main ally Belarus.
Late last year, Moscow launched a large number of balloons equipped with GPS trackers from Belarus.
They drifted into Lithuania, causing chaos in air traffic and forcing Vilnius Airport, the second-largest airport in the Baltic Sea region, to close nine times.
Russia has also been implicated in drone attacks on civilian airports, military bases and nuclear power plants in Europe, prompting responses from Britain’s Royal Air Force and counter-drone forces from France and Germany.
A recent report from Britain’s Royal United Services Institute warned that Russia is training a pro-Kremlin “youth army” to carry out sabotage operations to step up its campaign against the West.
It claimed that Russia was recruiting and training “millions of young people” in how to carry out such operations “as part of preparations for conflict with NATO.”
The young recruits are being trained by pro-Kremlin groups, including Yunarmiya, the Russian government’s youth military wing.