russia’s war in Ukraine has led to a significant increase in tensions in Denmark’s neighboring regions. russia is carrying out hybrid attacks against the West on a much larger and more aggressive scale than before the war in Ukraine, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service [DDIS] said in a report.
russia uses hybrid activities to weaken NATO’s political cohesion and decision-making capacity. russia’s aim is not to achieve quick gains, but rather to create a sustained state of uncertainty in which NATO’s cohesion is gradually undermined. russia will likely become more willing to intensify its hybrid attacks if the alliance fails to respond.
Since the spring of 2025, russia’s aggressive military behaviour towards NATO countries has further intensified. On 25 September 2025, russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov publicly stated that NATO and the EU have declared war on russia and are directly participating in it through their support for Ukraine. russia highly likely sees itself as being in conflict with the West, in which the hybrid means employed are kept below the threshold of armed conflict.
russia has likely concluded that it can employ these hybrid means without risking escalation or retaliation. In addition, russia likely believes that NATO member states are behind similar activities directed at russia. Based on this, the DDIS assesses that russia is currently conducting hybrid warfare against NATO and the West. Consequently, the hybrid threat from russia against NATO will highly likely increase in the coming years.
