Western intelligence officials have stated that Russia has significantly increased its activities and plans for assassination operations across Europe since the launch of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
According to officials, these operations are not limited to the war in Ukraine, but extend across various European countries, where political activists, Russian defectors, military figures, as well as individuals and organizations supporting Ukraine, have allegedly become targets.
Security authorities in several European countries — including France, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, and Spain — have uncovered or are investigating a number of suspected operations linked to Russia.
These cases reportedly involve covert activities such as long-term surveillance of targets, preparations for explosive attacks, reported shootings, and suspected organized assassination plots. Investigations suggest that many of these operations were highly coordinated and difficult to detect in their early stages, according to AP.
Among those mentioned as possible targets or threatened individuals are Russian human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin, Bashkortostan independence supporter Ruslan Gabbasov, and even Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Western officials, the inclusion of such figures suggests that these operations may target everyone from Kremlin critics living abroad to high-ranking state leaders.
Security officials also say Russia has changed its methods compared to the past. Instead of relying directly on intelligence officers, Moscow is increasingly using criminal intermediaries and locally recruited individuals within European countries.
According to officials, this strategy became more common after the mass expulsion of Russian operatives from many European states following the 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal in United Kingdom, an incident that sharply worsened relations between Russia and the West.
Overall, European security officials believe these operations serve a dual purpose: eliminating political opponents and Kremlin critics living outside Russia, while also creating an atmosphere of fear and insecurity among immigrant communities and supporters of Ukraine across Europe.
Russia has repeatedly denied these accusations, calling them politically motivated and baseless.
