Other nationalities are also recruited.<\/p>\n
The research report, published by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) thinktank, said money is a key motivator, with teenagers, migrants and older people with experience of serving in the Soviet military seen as ripe for recruitment.<\/p>\n
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Share<\/p>\n
\n 2024: Russia targeting young people in Britain\n <\/p>\n
‘Gig-economy of sabotage’<\/strong><\/p>\n Payment – ranging from hundreds to thousands of euros – is often promised in cryptocurrency<\/a><\/strong>, making the source of funding hard for investigators to trace.<\/p>\n “The methods used to recruit and task saboteurs have shifted from Cold War-era reliance on trained intelligence operatives to a model characterised by remote, freelance and highly deniable assignments: the ‘gig-economy era’ of Russian<\/a><\/strong> sabotage,” the report – entitled “Responding to Russian Sabotage Financing” – said.<\/p>\n “Hostile actors now outsource low-cost tasks to disposable individuals (or ‘agents for a day’) recruited online.”<\/p>\n The Kremlin has previously denied Western allegations of a growing campaign of sabotage and other hybrid hostilities.<\/p>\n But the number of acts of Russia-linked arson and serious sabotage across Europe is reported to have risen to 34 in 2024, up from 12 the previous year and just two in 2022.<\/p>\n Image: The authors of the RUSI report said this tactic of deliberately deniable activity carried out under the threshold of conventional war has “evolved into a systematic and geographically targeted threat”.<\/p>\n They urged NATO and the EU urgently to improve their response to deter future acts of sabotage.<\/p>\n This includes agreeing a definition of what constitutes sabotage and drawing on counterterrorism powers to track illicit funding channels.<\/p>\n Image: Putting NATO ‘red lines’ to the test<\/strong><\/p>\n The report also said governments must view individual incidents – regardless of how minor – as being part of a much graver pattern of activity against Western allies.<\/p>\n “While individual incidents may appear low-level or opportunistic, collectively they suggest the emergence of a broader campaign designed to raise the cost of supporting Ukraine<\/a><\/strong>, test the red lines of NATO states and erode public trust in Western national security systems,” it said.<\/p>\n Suspected Russian sabotage covers a range of actions from major operations such as damaging undersea cables to much more simple attacks against military and civilian targets, including starting fires and vandalism<\/a><\/strong> but also reconnaissance activities.<\/p>\n Image: Image: ‘Disposable agents’<\/strong><\/p>\n This low-level activity is the focus of the report, which drew on the insight of individuals from law enforcement, academia, and journalism as well as policy experts.<\/p>\n With many Russian intelligence officers expelled from Europe in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the RUSI report found that Russian spies “increasingly rely on intermediaries and ‘disposable agents’, many from Ukraine, to execute sabotage tasks.”<\/p>\n “If such incidents are treated purely as the actions of individual Ukrainians, this could fuel anti-Ukrainian sentiment and erode public support for Kyiv – a strategic aim of sabotage operations,” it said.<\/p>\n The report said recruited Ukrainians include those who were “unaware of the true nature of their tasks”.<\/p>\n Read more from Sky News: It cited the experience of Poland<\/a><\/strong> – a frequent target of suspected Russia-linked hybrid attacks.<\/p>\n “Many of those detained on sabotage-related charges from 2023 to 2025 were Ukrainian nationals – a development interpreted not as evidence of Ukrainian coordination but as part of a deliberate Russian strategy to exploit the presence of Ukrainian migrants, with the aim of provoking public distrust and political tension,” it said.<\/p>\n![\"November's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/skynews-donald-tusk-poland_7083990.jpg\")
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\n November’s explosion was part of a wave of arson, sabotage and cyberattacks since the start of the Ukraine war. File pic: KPRM\/Reuters<\/p>\n![\"CCTV](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/skynews-howard-phillips-russia_7074746.jpg\")
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\n CCTV image of Howard Phillips, from Essex, who volunteered to spy for Russia and was jailed in November. File pic: PA<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/skynews-fire-leyton_6935338.jpg\")
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\n A Russian mercenary group ordered an arson attack on a London warehouse providing aid to Ukraine in 2024. File pic: London Fire Brigade<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/skynews-damage-warehouse-russia_6960136.jpg\")
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\n The warehouse stored humanitarian aid and StarLink satellite equipment. File pic: PA<\/p>\n
Chinese hackers blamed for sabotage<\/a>
Why UK’s undersea cables are vulnerable<\/a>
British men recruited by Russia and China<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n