NATO’s chief military representative, Gen. Siegfried Koehler, announced a fundamental change in NATO’s approach to Russian hybrid warfare on December 16, 2025. The Alliance no longer views Russian cyber attacks, sabotage, or attacks on critical infrastructure as mere threats but as war itself, reflecting Moscow’s strategy to use sub-threshold confrontations as strategic weapons. The new posture calls for broader and more effective countermeasures beyond previous limits, redefining boundaries of defense to include hybrid tactics and psychological pressure aimed at weakening public trust and democratic institutions within Europe. NATO identifies three strategic pillars: moving away from classical deterrence based on red lines, transforming legal and normative frameworks into tools of force, and addressing internal societal vulnerabilities exploited by hybrid actors. This approach underscores Europe’s need to strengthen resilience, transparency, and capability to deter Russia while maintaining unity and robust response mechanisms in the face of a complex and evolving hybrid threat environment.
Category: Military & Paramilitary Operations
Subcategory: Unconventional / Paramilitary
Incident Type: Use of ‘little green men’ (unmarked soldiers)
Country: European Union
Source report: worldcrunch.com/in-the-ne…
