Provocative stunts targeting Jewish and Muslim communities are among a range of incidents \u2013 ranging from the bizarre to the potentially lethal \u2013 that police investigations have tracked back to Russia.<\/p>\n
They span graffiti campaigns in Paris; the burning of a Warsaw shopping centre and a warehouse in London; exploding parcels in Leipzig and Birmingham; the sabotage of railway lines in Germany; cyberattacks and doctored viral videos across Europe; to the recent disruption of airports with drones in Norway, Denmark and Munich.<\/p>\n
As their frequency has multiplied in recent years, European police, governments, and intelligence services have begun openly sharing the evidence they find to suggest the incidents are part of a Russian \u201chybrid war\u201d: an attempt to foster instability and division in European societies, while burdening and distracting governments that are supportive of Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n The aim is \u201cto disrupt the unity of Western states and sow discord among the citizens of European countries,\u201d reads a report on the issue by the Czech intelligence service.<\/p>\n \u201cThe psychological effect of their actions is particularly crucial. This is the weakening of the cohesion of western society, the instillation of fear and uncertainty, the undermining of trust in one\u2019s own state that it can protect its citizens, and the aforementioned pressure to limit support for Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n In the case of the pigs\u2019 heads, the plot unravelled quickly. The photo taken by the suspicious farmer offered a registration plate. CCTV around Paris confirmed the same car visited the mosques. A mobile phone used by a passenger was detected crossing out of France into Belgium shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n It took Serbian police less than three weeks to make their arrests, swooping up 11 people in late September on suspicion of carrying out the pigs\u2019 heads incident as well as the defacement of France\u2019s Holocaust Museum, throwing green paint on synagogues, and an incident at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.<\/p>\n \u201cActing on the instructions of a foreign intelligence service,\u201d the ringleader had recruited and instructed the group to \u201cincite hatred, discrimination and violence\u201d in Germany and France, the Serbian interior ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n It was part of a pattern. Four Bulgarians are shortly due to face trial in France for painting red handprints on the Paris Holocaust memorial in 2024, before they immediately left on a coach to Belgium. A group of Moldovan men are to go on trial in February for being paid \u20ac100 to stencil images of coffins with the text \u201cFrench soldiers in Ukraine\u201d close to prominent news outlets in Paris.<\/p>\n Images of the coffin graffiti were quickly shared online by a network of 43 Facebook accounts and 85 pages identified by parent company Meta as a confected effort to \u201cundermine Ukraine\u201d by \u201camplifying real-world stunts in France, Germany and Poland\u201d.<\/p>\n [\u00a0New laws needed to tackle Russian \u2018shadow-fleet\u2019 threat, says Department of Defence officialOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n A Moldovan couple admitted to having been paid to stencil about 150 blue stars of David on property around Paris a few weeks after the October 7th attack on Israel in 2023, something that caused a political outcry in France as it was initially presumed to be anti-Semitic.<\/p>\n According to a Le Monde investigation, the couple were accompanied by a photographer whose job was to immediately upload photos of the graffiti online. A network of 1,095 bots on social media site X then posted more than 2,500 messages about the stars of David, according to the French foreign ministry.<\/p>\n The ministry issued a statement condemning the involvement of a \u201cRussian network\u201d known as Recent Reliable News or Doppelganger for \u201cthe artificial spreading and initial distribution on social media of photos of graffiti representing Stars of David\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis new Russian digital interference operation against France testifies to the persistence of an opportunist and irresponsible strategy aimed at exploiting international crises in order to spread confusion and create tensions in the public debate in France and Europe,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n \u201cHello friend,\u201d read the message from an account named Privet Bot over messaging app Telegram.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need people that you have across Europe and the UK. We need those who are our kindred spirit,\u201d Privet Bot wrote. \u201cDo you have any friends among hooligans or acquaintances in the IRA?\u201d<\/p>\n The recipient of the messages was Dylan Earl, then aged 20, a baby-faced small-time drug dealer from Leicestershire.<\/p>\n The message had come not long after he contacted a pro-Russian Telegram account about the possibility of going to fight for Russia in Ukraine, saying he needed \u201ca fresh start\u201d. \u201cDo I need to speak Russian though?\u201d he had asked.<\/p>\n Earl would end up being convicted of organising the arson of a warehouse in London used by two Ukrainian companies to send supplies to their embattled country, in a fire that destroyed equipment for the Starlink satellites used for communications by the Ukrainian army.<\/p>\n The police search of his phone \u2013 a trawl of 5,702 messages and 51,528 images, according to detectives \u2013 revealed Telegram chat logs that were subsequently released as part of court documents.<\/p>\n [\u00a0\u2018Stop blaming the Brits\u2019: United Ireland would pose threat to Britain from Russia, says ex-Nato commanderOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Two accounts Earl was chatting with, Privet Bot and Lucky Strike, were run by \u201cthe Wagner Group, a private military organisation that acts on behalf of the Russian state\u201d, according to a statement by the British police.<\/p>\n Earl ended up recruiting a chain of young men with offers of payment. Three of them burned down the warehouse under his instruction, one livestreaming to Earl over FaceTime as two others poured petrol along its doorway and set it alight.<\/p>\n Earl then began recruiting people to burn down the premises of an exiled Russian businessman in Mayfair, who, Earl told a friend, might be kidnapped.<\/p>\n \u201cI can be the best spy you have ever seen,\u201d Earl promised Privet Bot.<\/p>\n The following day, counter-terrorism police arrested him in a car park of B&Q.<\/p>\n \u201cThis case is clear example of an organisation linked to the Russian state using \u2018proxies\u2019 \u2013 in this case British men \u2013 to carry out very serious criminal activity in this country on their behalf,\u201d the head of Britain\u2019s counter terrorism command, Dominic Murphy, said in a statement after Earl was convicted along with four others.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ringleaders … willingly acted as hostile agents on behalf of the Russian state,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cSeemingly motivated by the promise of money, they were prepared to commit criminal acts on behalf of Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n Cases across Europe show a similar modus operandi: small-time criminals or ordinary people in need of cash recruited for \u201cgig economy\u201d freelance work as Russian agents over social media.<\/p>\n In June this year, a Colombian citizen was sentenced to eight years in prison for starting a fire in a bus depot in Prague, recording the blaze and then leaving the scene. The court found he had been offered $3,000 (\u20ac2,600) to do so over Telegram.<\/p>\n Poland\u2019s Internal Security Agency said the 27-year-old was also responsible for arson attacks on two construction supply depots in Poland.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was trained by a person connected to Russian intelligence services … They taught him how to prepare incendiary materials, Molotov cocktails, and how to document these arson attacks,\u201d a spokesman for the Polish agency told a press conference.<\/p>\n The trial of a Ukrainian man in Poland found he had acted under instruction from Russian intelligence services over Telegram when he bought flammable materials used to burn down Warsaw\u2019s largest shopping centre, Marywilska 44, last year.<\/p>\n In July 2024, parcels sent through delivery services DHL and DPD ignited en route, starting fires in Leipzig airport and at a warehouse in Birmingham. Lithuanian prosecutors have charged 15 people in connection with the incident, which they said was organised by Russian citizens tied to Russian intelligence who recruited people over Telegram and paid them in cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n [\u00a0\u2018It won\u2019t stop with Ukraine\u2019: Former POWs saw only lust for war, conquest in Russian jailsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Last year, an Estonian court convicted nine people for vandalising the cars of prominent people and defacing historical monuments. The organiser had recruited the others \u201cat the request and under the instruction\u201d of Russian military intelligence, the prosecution service said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cNot all of the participants knew the actual purpose of the criminal offence,\u201d the statement said, calling on the public to notify \u201csimilar job offers\u201d to the police.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Distance no protection from Russian aggression, Latvian politician warns IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n In May this year, Germany\u2019s intelligence service warned of the use of \u201cdisposable agents\u201d \u2013 people recruited over Telegram or other social media and asked to perform tasks in exchange for a fee. The initial jobs offered can seem innocuous, like transporting people or goods, or taking photographs of particular locations.<\/p>\n \u201cThese people are recruited from members of organised crime groups with ties to Russia and countries close to it, or on the Internet through advertisements offering easy money for unspecified work,\u201d a report by the Czech intelligence service said in July.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Europe is facing \u2018most dangerous situation\u2019 since second World War, Copenhagen summit hearsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n \u201cThe \u2018Telegram agent\u2019 in question may not even be aware that he or she is working for Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n Police crackdowns on such agents appear to be intensifying. This week, the Polish government announced that eight people had been arrested across the country for acts including reconnaissance of military facilities and critical infrastructure, and planned sabotage.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/XLG32CCLPXWJEN4KM7I4R6YHAQ.jpg\")
A woman walks along a building whose facade is covered with Stars of David painted during the night, in the Alesia district of Paris, in October 2023. Photograph: Geoffroy Van der Hasselt\/AFP via Getty Images Anti-Semitic stunts<\/p>\n![\"Dylan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LNCVENMAO5BIXJGY42IO3PSEFM.jpg\")
Dylan Earl. Photograph: PA The best spy you have ever seen<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/DLRDYJC5JJDULNVIGIBMTEJ6DY.jpg\")
A cargo airplane of the DHL package delivery company stands on the tarmac at Leipzig\/Halle Airport, where a package ignited in 2023 in a suspected act of Russian sabotage. Photograph: Jens Schlueter\/Getty Images \u2018Disposable agents\u2019<\/p>\n