In the 1970s and 1980s, Soviet-backed terrorists carried out attacks across Europe that left civilians both horrified, puzzled, and asking, “Why commit terrorism if no one understands why you are doing it?”
Terrorism, by definition, has an ideological objective. Groups like the Red Army Faction and the Red Brigades claimed Marxist inspiration, however their acts never had the intent of ushering in the “advancement of global Marxism.”
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As per US Navy SEAL officer and Kyiv Post special correspondent Chuck Pfarrer, calculated terror serves Moscow’s broader aim of undermining public trust in Western institutions.
Pfarrer, who’s spent years tracking down Soviet-backed terrorist proxies, explains that the USSR’s objective for these groups was never conventional military victory. Instead, their strategy relied on fostering fear and confusion through random acts of violence – disrupting daily life, eroding public trust in the government, and forcing authorities to divert resources toward counterterrorism efforts.
Ultimately, NATO’s counterterrorism capabilities dismantled these KGB-sponsored proxies, making the Kremlin’s investment in training, equipping, and sheltering terrorist groups an increasingly poor return on investment.
Today, Moscow’s tactics have evolved, but its objectives remain unchanged. Russia has shifted from kinetic operations to digital warfare, replacing terrorism with information warfare as its primary tool of destabilization.
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While traditional acts of terrorism could only reach those directly affected, digital warfare allows the Kremlin to manipulate millions daily, shaping public perception and destabilizing entire societies. The shift from physical proxy wars to cyber aggression has expanded Russia’s ability to interfere in Western nations with disinformation without the direct attribution that conventional attacks would invite.
Hacker groups such as APT28 (Fancy Bear) and APT29 (Cozy Bear) are now central players in Russia’s asymmetric warfare, conducting cyber operations targeting critical infrastructure, government systems, and private businesses. These attacks often aim either to steal intelligence or to disrupt public services. Whether through kinetic terrorism or cyberwarfare, the goal remains the same: to manipulate the thinking of an adversary’s population.
John Jackson, a technical exploitation officer and red team operator who specializes in Russian hacking methods, said that Russian threat actors such as APT44 (GRU) and APT29 (SVR) frequently target civilian companies to disrupt broader supply chains.
“Disrupting larger supply chains can cripple operations of primary targets or even sow political and psychological disarray within the target country’s population,” he says. “After all, people tend to trust their government less when they don’t feel protected.”
Hacking, when viewed as an element of psychological warfare rather than just espionage, takes on a new meaning in the context of Russia’s global disinformation and propaganda campaigns, efforts that the Kremlin has boosted for decades.
Fred Hoffman, an associate professor of intelligence studies at Mercyhurst University, describes Russia’s cyber aggression as part of a broader strategy known as “Gray Zone” tactics – activities that fall between peace and war, designed to weaken adversaries without triggering open conflict. According to Hoffman, disinformation is particularly effective because it is cheap, scalable, and difficult to attribute directly to the Russian government, making it a favored tool of the Kremlin.
The impact of these strategies is clear in Ukraine, which has faced relentless cyber assaults, with over 2,000 attacks in 2022 alone. Many of these targeted government agencies and critical infrastructure, not to gather intelligence but to erode public confidence and weaken the country’s resilience. The objective is psychological rather than military, seeking to spread discontent and sap support for the war effort.
“Ukraine is already on the front lines of this reality, facing the first cyberwar in history,” says Ievgen Vladimirov, an honorary member of the NGO International Cybersecurity University and an experienced cyberwarfare professional. He warns that failing to recognize “cyberattacks as acts of war” will “only encourage adversaries to act with impunity,” pointing out that Russia is already waging war against NATO countries in cyberspace.
As Russian gray zone operations and cyberwarfare escalate, Western nations must reconsider how they define acts of aggression. Ignoring digital attacks as a lesser form of conflict plays directly into the Kremlin’s hands, allowing Russia to continue its destabilization efforts with little fear of consequences. The challenge now is whether the democratic world will acknowledge this reality and respond accordingly.
Pfarrer notes that “the specter of Soviet sponsored terror was defeated in Europe because NATO countries assessed the problem and developed tactical and strategic solutions. Terror was answered by the science of Counterterrorism.”
To counter these modern “evolving threats, the EU and NATO need to devote time, money and effort into meeting, and countering Russia gray zone operations,” says Pfarrer, continuing that to do this, “the first step toward the solution is recognizing the threat.”
However, presently, “Russia is actively waging war against the democratic world, yet NATO countries continue to act as if it isn’t happening,” laments Vladimirov before voicing his hope that they come to realize that “It’s time to recognize cyberattacks for what they are—acts of war.”
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