Russian spies turn European properties into "Trojan horses", The Telegraph says

Russian intelligence services have turned properties across Western Europe into a network of "Trojan horses" intended to launch a coordinated sabotage campaign.

Source: The Telegraph

Quote: "Exploiting weak legal frameworks, clandestine Russian units are suspected of purchasing sensitive real estate close to military and civilian sites in at least a dozen European nations."

Details: Aiming to escalate its "hybrid war" against the West, Russian secret services are said to have purchased homes, warehouses, abandoned schools and even entire islands with the intention of using them as launch pads for coordinated surveillance, sabotage and covert attacks.

Serving and former officers from three European intelligence agencies told The Telegraph they fear Russia may already have explosives, drones, weapons and undercover agents positioned at some of these sites, ready to be activated in a crisis.

Acts of sabotage linked to Moscow – from arson attacks in London and Warsaw to parcel bombs and assassination plots – have increased since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago.

Some Western intelligence officials believe these incidents may be merely "test runs", The Telegraph says.

Intelligence officials say that instead of launching a conventional military attack, the Kremlin could seek to test NATO's resolve in the "grey zone" by organising larger-scale attacks designed to paralyse transport, communication and energy networks, while making it harder to invoke Article 5 of NATO's collective defence clause.

"A sabotage campaign is less likely to produce consensus around Article 5 than a conventional Russian military operation," one source told The Telegraph.

Blaise Metreweli, the new head of MI6, warned in her first speech in office that the UK is now "operating in a space between peace and war". "Russia is testing us in the grey zone with tactics that are just below the threshold of war," she said in December.

Moscow is also suspected of using spy ships and vessels from its shadow fleet to deploy sensors and remotely triggered explosives near undersea cables in UK waters and elsewhere.

By acquiring property near military bases or key civilian infrastructure, Russia may be pursuing a similar strategy on land, The Telegraph notes.

Background:

• Earlier, the Financial Times reported that Russia's military intelligence ship Yantar had conducted a three-month voyage along Europe's coastline in search of critical energy and internet cables.
• It was also reported that German special forces searched a cargo vessel at the Kiel Canal after a reconnaissance drone had been launched from it. The drone flew over a military ship to conduct surveillance and take photographs, Der Spiegel wrote.
• At around 01:30 on 10 September 2025, Ukraine's Air Force reported a likely incursion of Russian attack drones into Polish airspace.
• Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said that Russia's war against Ukraine would continue to disrupt European airlines for many years. His comments came a day after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace.

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