The frontline is everywhere now: Russia’s hybrid war has begun, and Britain isn’t ready, defence experts reveal

Drone incursions, undersea cable sabotage and relentless cyberattacks have become part of Vladimir Putin’s new kind of conflict, a “hybrid war” fought in the shadows, without formal declaration, but with very real consequences.

Politicians, military chiefs and intelligence agencies are increasingly warning that Europe is dangerously exposed. The UK, they say, has failed to grasp the scale of the threat and the speed with which it’s evolving. Every layer of modern life, our airspace, seabed and cyberspace, is now a potential battlefield.

The Threat from the Deep: Protecting Europe’s ‘Spinal Cord’

Speaking exclusively to LBC, Eugen Ciemnyjewski, CEO of EUROATLAS, a company developing autonomous undersea drones to protect Europe’s critical subsea infrastructure, says we are “leaving an Achilles’ heel wide open.”

“We’ve seen Putin’s shadow fleet used for nefarious purposes in the seas around Europe,” he explains. “They’ve evaded sanctions, but more dangerously, they’ve been surveilling and allegedly severing undersea infrastructure.”

The Defence Secretary has already warned of a Russian vessel “gathering intelligence and attempting to map our undersea infrastructure.” The implications, Ciemnyjewski says, are terrifying.

“Russia seems to have no qualms violating airspace and flouting international norms, and as we saw in Finland, ships associated with the Shadow Fleet can cause major infrastructural damage. This is textbook hybrid warfare.”

The stakes could not be higher. Around 70 cables, carrying 98 per cent of the UK’s internet traffic and trillions in financial transactions, connect Britain to the outside world.

“ATMs, GPS, emergency services, the ability to disseminate information – anything that relies on the wider internet could cease functioning,” he says. “Even small-scale damage, as we saw in Orkney and Shetland, can have huge consequences for ordinary people.”

Repairing those cables is neither quick nor simple. The process depends on knowing exactly where the damage has occurred, often across thousands of miles of seabed. The same vulnerability applies to energy infrastructure: the Nord Stream pipeline explosions in 2022 still ripple through energy prices today.

“Without proper surveillance and defence of these undersea cables, we’re leaving Europe’s spinal cord unguarded,” Ciemnyjewski warns. “EUROATLAS exists to fill that role.”

He welcomes signs of progress in the UK’s recent Strategic Defence Review, which promised to work with private companies to secure undersea infrastructure and assign the Royal Navy a new leading role in protecting it. But he cautions: “Acknowledging the threat is one thing. Acting on it fast enough is another.”

The Invisible Battlefield: Cyberwarfare

If the seabed is one front, cyberspace is another – and it’s already under fire. Joe Jones, CEO of cyberattack simulation firm Pistachio, told LBC the chaos caused by recent hacks should be a wake-up call.

“Cyberattacks are a key part of hybrid warfare,” he says. “Militaries around the world now have dedicated cyber commands. We saw China literally parade its cyber division as part of its army.”

In the UK, attacks like the one that crippled Jaguar Land Rover’s operations show just how quickly digital sabotage can wreak havoc. “They can cause billions in losses, bankruptcies, the theft and weaponisation of personal data – and as we saw with the NHS, even death.”

The attraction for hostile states is obvious. “Being able to bring an economy or an industrial base to its knees without firing a single shot is invaluable,” Jones says.

Many of the attacks traced back to Russia aren’t always officially directed by the Kremlin, but originate from hackers operating with its tacit approval. “There’s plausible deniability built in,” he explains. “They don’t need direct orders to serve the same strategic purpose.”

The scale of the threat was laid bare in the early hours of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when Moscow targeted the Viasat satellite network to cripple communications. “That was a true hybrid warfare cyberattack,” Jones says. “And it showed exactly what this kind of weapon can do.”

The Hostile Sky: Drones as a Weapon of Chaos

In the skies above Europe, the picture is no less alarming. Karl Rosander, CEO and co-founder of Nordic Air Defence, says the continent is finally waking up to how quickly drone warfare is transforming the threat landscape.

“The past few weeks have been a crash course for Europe on what hybrid warfare looks like when it comes to drones,” he told LBC. “We’ve had Russian drones crossing into European airspace, being shot down, and others disrupting airports and causing chaos.”

Denmark, one of the recent flashpoints, has seen the Prime Minister warn that “the hybrid war is underway.”

“All of this should have us deeply worried,” Rosander says. “Not only about the brazenness of these incursions, but about how inadequate our ability to respond still is.”

He points to Ukraine as a grim “laboratory” for drone warfare, where both offensive and defensive systems are evolving at a blistering pace. “With the cost of drones now terrifyingly low, it’s inefficient to scramble jets every time one appears,” he says. “We need dedicated drone-defence technology that can take down hostile drones quickly and affordably.”

The imbalance is striking: “NATO’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte, highlighted the absurdity of shooting down $1,000 drones with million-dollar missiles,” Rosander adds.

Proposals for a “drone wall” across Europe’s eastern flank have gained traction, but he warns the idea risks becoming another bureaucratic talking point. “It’s big and ambitious, but Europe’s airports, power plants and ports need protection now, not years from now.”

The New Frontline Is Everywhere Now

All three experts had the same urgent message: Europe cannot wait, because Russia isn’t.

From seabed to server room, from the skies to the screens in our hands, the frontline is everywhere now. Hybrid war has already begun, and everything, from the cables beneath our feet to the drones above our cities, is a potential target.

Without a massive and coordinated effort to harden these defences, experts have told LBC the next strike might not come with missiles or tanks, but with silence: no signal, no internet, no light.