Russia is expanding hybrid warfare into Southern Europe using disinformation, cultural manipulation, infrastructure disruptions, and economic pressure, exploiting low preparedness to weaken EU and NATO cohesion.

Cyber & Information WarfareInformation OperationsPropaganda & disinformation campaigns

Aggressor

Summary

The article discusses Russia's expanding hybrid warfare tactics targeting Southern European countries as a softer flank compared to NATO's Eastern Flank. Russia employs less overt but strategically effective methods such as disinformation, cultural and religious narrative manipulation, infrastructure disruptions (e.g., blackouts), and economic pressure, particularly in the energy sector. Countries like Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Greece are highlighted as vulnerable due to limited hybrid threat detection capabilities, underfunded civil counter-disinformation actors, and energy dependencies on Russian supplies. Pro-Kremlin narratives include framing the Ukraine war as a Western proxy conflict and undermining EU and NATO cohesion. Notable incidents include a billboard in Verona (2024) saying 'Russia is NOT my enemy', widespread blackouts in Spain and Portugal allegedly claimed by pro-Russian hackers, and manipulation of Orthodox religious ties in Greece. The article urges Southern European countries to strengthen hybrid threat responses by establishing national hybrid threat centres, funding independent journalism and fact-checking, and embedding media literacy in education.

Classification

Confidence: High

The article documents active Russian hybrid warfare tactics including disinformation campaigns, infrastructure disruption via blackouts with claimed pro-Russian hacker group responsibility, and manipulation of cultural and religious narratives designed to weaken EU and NATO support in Southern Europe. These are consistent hostile hybrid actions directly linked to Russian state strategy.

Source URL

https://neweasterneurope.eu/2025/07/08/southern-europe-a-soft-target-in-russias-expanding-hybrid-war

Open source

Provenance

Publisher: extension
Submitted: Feb 13, 2026, 19:25 UTC
Last updated: Nov 4, 2026, 08:35 UTC
Event time: Jul 8, 2025, 10:59 UTC

Published as a hybrid-warfare signal with a public source and reviewer-approved assessment bands. See the methodology for how records are assessed.

Raw record

{
  "id": "6084c597-f3c5-40e0-bd02-bc28ce92ed96",
  "url": "https://neweasterneurope.eu/2025/07/08/southern-europe-a-soft-target-in-russias-expanding-hybrid-war",
  "source": "extension",
  "status": "approved",
  "category": "Cyber & Information Warfare",
  "subcategory": "Information Operations",
  "incident_type": "Propaganda & disinformation campaigns",
  "country": "Italy",
  "source_reliability": "C",
  "info_credibility": "3",
  "tags": [
    "Greece",
    "hybrid threats",
    "Italy",
    "Portugal",
    "Russian interference",
    "Southern Europe",
    "Spain"
  ],
  "nodes": [
    "Node 2: 5th Column"
  ],
  "countries": [
    "Italy",
    "Greece",
    "Spain",
    "Portugal"
  ],
  "where_text": "Land",
  "headline": null,
  "description": "The article discusses Russia's expanding hybrid warfare tactics targeting Southern European countries as a softer flank compared to NATO's Eastern Flank. Russia employs less overt but strategically effective methods such as disinformation, cultural and religious narrative manipulation, infrastructure disruptions (e.g., blackouts), and economic pressure, particularly in the energy sector. Countries like Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Greece are highlighted as vulnerable due to limited hybrid threat detection capabilities, underfunded civil counter-disinformation actors, and energy dependencies on Russian supplies. Pro-Kremlin narratives include framing the Ukraine war as a Western proxy conflict and undermining EU and NATO cohesion. Notable incidents include a billboard in Verona (2024) saying 'Russia is NOT my enemy', widespread blackouts in Spain and Portugal allegedly claimed by pro-Russian hackers, and manipulation of Orthodox religious ties in Greece. The article urges Southern European countries to strengthen hybrid threat responses by establishing national hybrid threat centres, funding independent journalism and fact-checking, and embedding media literacy in education.",
  "summary_short": "Russia is expanding hybrid warfare into Southern Europe using disinformation, cultural manipulation, infrastructure disruptions, and economic pressure, exploiting low preparedness to weaken EU and NATO cohesion.",
  "summary_extended": null,
  "actor_primary": "Kremlin",
  "target_primary": null,
  "location_text": "Southern Europe including Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal",
  "location_region": "Southern Europe",
  "location_coordinates_lat": 41.8719,
  "location_coordinates_lon": 12.5674,
  "location_precision": "Regional",
  "is_aggressor_signal": true,
  "signal_type": "HYBRID_SIGNAL",
  "is_hybrid_war_signal": true,
  "classification_complete": true,
  "hybrid_signal_complete": true,
  "classification_confidence": "High",
  "classification_rationale": "The article documents active Russian hybrid warfare tactics including disinformation campaigns, infrastructure disruption via blackouts with claimed pro-Russian hacker group responsibility, and manipulation of cultural and religious narratives designed to weaken EU and NATO support in Southern Europe. These are consistent hostile hybrid actions directly linked to Russian state strategy.",
  "event_time_utc": "2025-07-08T10:59:52.000Z",
  "end_time_utc": null,
  "event_time_confidence": "unknown",
  "created_at": "2026-02-13T19:25:08.593Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T08:35:32.139Z",
  "reliability_band": "strong",
  "location_precision_band": "regional",
  "time_precision_band": "unknown",
  "severity_band": "moderate",
  "attribution_confidence_band": "high",
  "attribution_basis": "single_source"
}

Public assessmentReliability: StrongSeverity: ModerateAttribution: HighSingle sourceTime: UnknownLocation: Regional

Source reliability

Info credibility

Event time

Jul 8, 2025, 10:59 UTC

Event time confidence

unknown

Location

Southern Europe including Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal

Region

Southern Europe

Primary actor

Kremlin

Country

Italy

Countries

Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal

Tags

Greece, hybrid threats, Italy, Portugal, Russian interference, Southern Europe, Spain

Nodes

Node 2: 5th Column

Loading signal...

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