NATO countries must be ready to respond to increasing hybrid threats to protect member countries' territory, a top military chief from the military alliance said last night, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
Hybrid threats apply to both military and civilian targets that aim to undermine security and typically include cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, sabotage of key infrastructure and the use of drones or irregular armed groups.
"Hybrid threats are a real problem and I think we can expect more of these cases," said Alexis Grinkiewicz, a general with the US Air Force and NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, told reporters at the alliance's headquarters near the Belgian city of Mons.
Grinkevich said some of them were the result of reckless actions, while others were deliberate. He said it was important to name who was behind the hybrid attacks and that the alliance knew that Russia was behind some of them.
"We are also thinking about being proactive… If Russia is trying to put us in difficult situations, then maybe there are ways for us to create difficulties for them," he said, adding that NATO is a defensive alliance and "there is nothing offensive in what it is talking about".
Russia denies accusations that it is behind drone incidents or cyberattacks targeting Western countries. It also denies having plans to attack NATO.