EASTORA REPORT | Sergei Shoigu says Europe is imagining a Russian hybrid war that has not yet begun — and warned that it should hope it never discovers what a real one would look like.
“Listen, we have no time for you,” Russia’s Security Council secretary said Monday, dismissing repeated European accusations that Moscow is already waging a hybrid campaign against the continent.
Then came the warning.
“God forbid you live to see the day when Russia actually starts waging a hybrid war against you,” Shoigu said. “Live peacefully. Do not attack us. We are not going to attack anyone.”
Shoigu said Vladimir Putin had stated “three or four times” over the past two months that Russia had no intention of attacking Europe, yet European governments continued to describe Moscow as a hybrid threat.
“They always need some kind of enemy,” he said. “We don’t need an enemy.”
The remarks carried a contradiction at their core: Moscow insists it has no plans to widen the conflict, while European governments argue that Russia is already operating below the threshold of open war.
Across Europe, officials have blamed Russia for cyberattacks, sabotage, drone incursions, disinformation campaigns and attacks on critical infrastructure. Germany recently accused Moscow of involvement in an attempted explosive-drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Russia denies those allegations and says Europe is using them to justify rearmament and confrontation.
That made Shoigu’s message less a reassurance than a warning wrapped inside one.
He told Europe to live peacefully and stop expecting an attack, but in the same breath suggested that what Western governments currently describe as Russian hybrid warfare would be nothing compared with what Moscow could unleash if it actually chose to escalate.
That is why the line landed so sharply.
Russia says it has no time for a hybrid war with Europe.
Shoigu’s warning was that Europe should hope it stays that way.