Putin’s War on the West: From Shadows to Open Conflict
Ukraine’s use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles on Russian territory has dramatically escalated the conflict, prompting Russia to retaliate with an intermediate-range ballistic missile strike on Dnipro and threats against Western arms suppliers. This marks a significant shift, as Russia’s covert campaign of sabotage, cyberattacks, and disinformation against Western nations, already underway, now operates under heightened public scrutiny. The recent severing of Baltic Sea fiber optic cables is widely attributed to this ongoing Russian hybrid warfare, highlighting the expanding scope of attacks targeting critical infrastructure and potentially escalating into a wider conflict. This escalating situation necessitates a reevaluation of Western responses to Russian aggression and the potential consequences of a weakened transatlantic alliance.