Russia is already fighting NATO, just not with tanks and fighter jets, argues a former top US general

 This week, a former top US general stated that in some ways, Russia is already at war with the NATO alliance. Russia has been carrying out these hybrid attacks, acts of aggression in the blurry gray area between war and peace, against NATO members, unnerving the military alliance and raising concerns that what has long been a low-intensity campaign could escalate into something much more serious.

While the recent covert acts of sabotage are far from the level of aggression and brutality that Russia has displayed in Ukraine, the former US general argued that Moscow is already fighting NATO. "We need to acknowledge that they are at war with us," said Ben Hodges, a retired lieutenant general and former commander of US Army Europe, at the NATO Public Forum in Washington, DC.

Hodges listed GPS jamming, sabotage, election interference, and the illicit movement of oil as examples of Russia's malign activity against the alliance. NATO allies have seen a string of these aggressive acts linked to Moscow over the past few months, including signal jamming, arson incidents, cyber hacks, and attempted assassinations. While Russia does not claim responsibility, leaders have suggested that these are President Vladimir Putin's way of trying to interfere with Western support for Ukraine.

Russia's leadership has regularly framed the conflict as not just a fight with Ukraine but as a confrontation with NATO. Moscow routinely portrays itself as the victim while targeting other countries with direct and indirect aggression.

In May, the recent campaign prompted NATO to raise public concern over Russia's activities. The alliance expressed "great concern over hostile state activity" in many European countries, stating that "these incidents are part of an intensifying campaign of activities which Russia continues to carry out across the Euro-Atlantic area, including on alliance territory and through proxies." The statement mentioned sabotage, acts of violence, cyber and electronic interference, disinformation campaigns, and other hybrid operations as examples of Russia's actions.

A lasting headache for NATO

The problem of Russian hybrid attacks is not a new challenge for the NATO alliance. Although the war in Ukraine has exacerbated tensions, the alliance has been dealing with this trend for quite some time.

UK Defense Secretary John Healey stated at the Public Forum, "The Russian threat isn't just directed at Ukraine. In fact, we all, in our own countries, have had warnings of this — we've all had knowledge of this and experience of this for several years." He added, "We face wider Russian aggression directed at our own democracies, from hybrid attacks to threats in the high north."

Some NATO allies have more experience dealing with Russian hybrid attacks than others. The Baltic nations, which are on the alliance's eastern flank, have a long history of such attacks from Russia. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds said, "We've been advocating taking a strict position on Russia for years.

We, ourselves, have been experiencing hybrid attacks from Russia for decades, so that's why the threat has been quite clear, what we're facing." He further stated, "We are facing Russia, the country, which can change in every five years — in every 10 years — dramatically. But nothing changes in 100 years. So we pretty much see the same Russia. It's expansionist, it's imperialist, regardless of what type [of] regime we are dealing with."

The issue of Russian hybrid attacks was a notable discussion point at the recent NATO summit in Washington. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "Every ally is acutely aware of the threat and is focused on the recent upticks in sabotage. These are not one-offs. This is part of a deliberate strategy by Russia to try to undermine our security and undermine the cohesion of the Alliance. It's not going to work because we see it and we're acting on it."