Moscow targets Dutch infrastructure in escalation of hybrid war against Ukraine's allies

By Tony Wesolowsky | 2025-04-30

In a stark first, Russian state-backed hackers breached critical infrastructure in the Netherlands last year, marking an escalation in Moscow's hybrid war on Europe.

The Dutch thwarted a second attempt this year, according to Dutch military intelligence, highlighting the growing cyber threat at Europe's digital and physical frontiers.

For several reasons, including its support of Ukraine, the Netherlands remains an "interesting target country" for Moscow, the Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) said in its annual report published April 22.

It is the latest warning of Russia's ongoing hybrid war, which has intensified across Europe since the Kremlin launched its unprovoked aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 in a bid to undermine Western backing for Kyiv.

Underwater espionage

According to the MIVD report, the 2024 incident targeted the digital control system of an unidentified public facility, although no damage was done. The incident this year was foiled, the report said, after the unnamed target responded in time.

The MIVD also warned that Russian units were charting the infrastructure of the North Sea and conducting underwater activities that "indicated espionage and preparatory actions for disruptions and sabotage."

“Think, for example, of internet cables, drinking water and energy supplies,” MIVD Director Peter Reesink said.

Besides having strategic ports, the Netherlands is home to several key international institutions that have found themselves in the crosshairs of suspected Russian malign activities, including the International Criminal Court and the international chemical weapon watchdog.

The Netherlands has proven a key backer of Kyiv -- another reason for Moscow's ire. The country has supplied Ukraine with an unspecified number of F-16 fighter jets as well as with Patriot missile air-defense systems.

In early April, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans announced that the Netherlands had allocated €150 million ($171 million) for air defense systems for Ukraine.

The government announced in March that it was reserving €3.5 billion ($4 billion) in support for Ukraine for the rest of this year and next.

A surge in attacks on Europe

The Netherlands is not the only European Union state registering an uptick in Russian hybrid and other attacks.

Italy recently has complained of targeting by Russian disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks and diplomatic confrontations, aimed primarily at President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, both vocal backers of Ukraine.

Several think tanks have raised the alarm about Russia's increasing subversive activities across Europe.

The number of Russian attacks in Europe almost tripled between 2023 and 2024, after quadrupling between 2022 and 2023, according to recent analysis from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Russia's primary targets have included transportation, government, critical infrastructure and industry," the report said, naming Russia's military intelligence agency -- commonly known as the GRU -- as responsible for many of these attacks, either directly or indirectly.

In March, the Associated Press reported on 59 incidents that Western officials publicly attributed to Russia or its proxies, all occurring since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

The incidents range from stuffing of car tailpipes with expanding foam in Germany to a plot to plant explosives on cargo planes. They include setting fire to stores and a museum, hacking politicians' electronic accounts and nations' critical infrastructure, and spying by a ring convicted in Britain.

Recent reports have highlighted suspected Russian sabotage involving the cutting of undersea cables, key connectors of global communications, in which the offenders use dilapidated vessels with dodgy registration records known as a "shadow fleet."

The growing threat in the Baltic Sea prompted NATO in January to launch an operation aimed at ramping up surveillance of suspicious maritime activity across the region.