Economic losses to the United Kingdom from Russian hostile activity amount to at least £2–2.5 billion a year, according to the report The Putin Tax, published on 7 October 2026 by Labour MP Graeme Downie and researcher Dominic Reed. The authors describe the estimate as a floor and warn that...
Russia has begun sabotage against Danish firms supplying weapons to Ukraine
Denmark’s Security and Intelligence Service (PET) said Russia has moved from planning to carrying out sabotage operations against Danish companies that supply goods to Ukraine. Josefine Christensen, a lead analyst at PET, made the remarks on Wednesday at a homeland security conference in Copenhagen. She said the shift marks a...
Is Europe facing a fuel crisis
September 2026 greeted Europeans with a deceptive calm. The lights are still on in Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam, and officials insist that the worst energy shocks are behind them. Behind closed doors, however, analysts and energy-crisis staff are growing uneasy. Autumn is here, temperatures across Europe are sliding, and the...
UK imposes a new package of sanctions against Russia
The UK Foreign Office announced a new package of sanctions against Russia on 1 October. It covers 23 individuals and entities and eight vessels. According to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the package is aimed at restricting funding for the war, putting pressure on networks that London describes as...
Couple detained in Latvia on suspicion of spying for Russian military intelligence
Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD), together with the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIDD), has detained two Latvian citizens — a man and a woman — on suspicion of gathering information about the country’s defence sector on behalf of Russian military intelligence. The VDD announced this on 1 October. Criminal...
Russia sends nuclear warning to NATO in informal diplomatic note
Russia has delivered an informal diplomatic document to NATO warning that it is prepared to use its entire arsenal, including nuclear weapons, if alliance countries attempt to isolate the Kaliningrad region from the rest of Russian territory. The document, seen by Reuters, accuses NATO of a “dangerous and reckless course”...
Latvia bans firearm permits for dual citizens of Russia and Belarus
Latvia’s Saeima on 24 September 2026 adopted in the final reading amendments to the Law on the Circulation of Weapons. The changes ban the issuance of weapons permits to Latvian citizens who also hold Russian or Belarusian citizenship and create a legal basis for revoking permits already granted. The ban...
NATO steps up intelligence sharing in response to sabotage in Europe
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, said the alliance is intensifying intelligence sharing in response to a series of sabotage acts and other incidents that allies assess as linked to Russia. At the same time, he urged the alliance to remain “calm and confident” in...
About 50 sabotage incidents recorded in Europe in September
According to available data from European intelligence services, around fifty incidents classified as hybrid operations occurred in September 2026 across the EU and the United Kingdom. The geography includes Germany, France, Britain, Poland, Spain, the Baltic states and Scandinavia. Targets cited include military-industrial enterprises, warehouses, railway infrastructure, aviation logistics facilities,...
Raiffeisen’s Russian subsidiary handles contracts for suppliers to Russia’s defense industry
After Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) repeatedly promised to wind down its business in Russia and sell or spin off its Russian subsidiary. AO Raiffeisenbank still operates in the Russian Federation, however, and remains the largest Western bank on the Russian...