Russian Subversion, Coercion, and Sabotage throughout Europe

Speaker: Bojan Pancevski (Wall Street Journal) with Guest Host Jack Gaines (One CA Podcast)

Date: 24 January 2025

Speaker Session Summary

SMA hosted a speaker session with Bojan Pancevski (Wall Street Journal) with Guest Host Jack Gaines (One CA Podcast) as part of its SMA EUCOM Speaker Series.    

Russian aggression below the threshold of warfare in Europe has increased exponentially since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to Mr. Pancevski, this aggression even surpasses levels seen during the Cold War under the Soviet Union. For example, the Russian Chief Intelligence Office (GRU) engineered a small device that was placed in an electric massage tool frequently sold on Amazon, capable of igniting a magnesium mixture that is extremely difficult to extinguish. A German-based shipping company, Dalsey, Hillblom, and Lynn (DHL), narrowly avoided disaster when several of these devices caught fire before being loaded onto planes. Mr. Pancevski stressed that had these devices been shipped, they could have downed multiple planes, if not dozens, including commercial aircraft carrying civilians. He described this attack as retaliation for US and NATO military assistance to Ukraine. 

In addition to such acts, Russia has intensified sabotage and espionage efforts in the Baltic Sea, a region of strategic importance Russia and European Union members. Mr. Pancevski highlighted numerous incidents of Russian spy ships mapping out strategic infrastructure on the seabed, including data cables, power cables, and natural gas pipelines. Russia’s activities are not limited to surveillance; it is actively attacking this infrastructure by dragging anchors over cables and pipelines. These attacks have become increasingly frequent, prompting limited reprisals. For example, in December 2024, Finland detained a Russian vessel that cut a critical power cable connecting Finland to Estonia. 

Mr. Pancevski emphasized that much can be learned from Nordic countries and states bordering Russia, such as Poland, in mitigating Russian influence operations. While Germany relies heavily on trade between itself and Russia as a deterrent to aggression, Nordic countries are responding with decisive actions, such as Finland’s detainment of the Russian ship. 

Speaker Session Recording

Briefing materials

Bojan Pancevski is The Wall Street Journal’s chief European political correspondent, covering European and global affairs. He produces major investigations, agenda- setting scoops, analyses of politics and diplomacy, and deeply reported features about extraordinary people and events. His recent writing has focused on the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s clandestine operations in Europe and the escalating shadow war of espionage and sabotage between Russia and the West, which, unlike the Cold War, is being fought on NATO soil. He was previously the Journal’s Germany correspondent, covering many of the same issues while also writing about the politics, society and influence of Europe’s largest economy on the world.

In almost two decades of dispatches and reportage from across Europe and beyond, Bojan has covered every major story on the continent: the financial crisis that engulfed the Eurozone, the wars in Ukraine, multiple migration crises, Britain’s departure from the European Union, Russia’s use of assassination against the regime’s opponents, the rise of Islamist terror and the political upheaval across Europe.

He co-authored a bestselling book about the crimes of Josef Fritzl, an investigation into one of the most extraordinary criminal cases in contemporary European history.  His work has been nominated for a number of prestigious awards. He was part of the team that won the British Journalism Award for Breaking News. Bojan is the only foreign recipient of the Werner Holzer Award, a prestigious accolade honoring the body of work of German foreign correspondents. He is fluent in several European languages, including German and Russian.