One of the main objectives of Russian hybrid operations is to undermine the West's willingness to continue supporting Ukraine. The response to such actions should therefore include increasing contributions to the PURL mechanism or providing Ukraine with additional air defence interceptor missiles.
This was stated by General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, during the Warsaw Security Forum.
According to Grynkewich, once responsibility for a specific attack has been established, countries should publicly identify those responsible.
"This will let the Russians know, first of all, that we have exposed them. It will show them that their network was not as difficult to identify as they believed. They think they can escape accountability because we will not be able to determine who is responsible. We need to tell them that we can," Grynkewich said.
The general stressed that one of Russia's main objectives in conducting such operations is to weaken Western support for Ukraine.
"One of the main goals is to break the West's will to continue providing support to Ukraine. So one of the best responses is to prove that assumption wrong. When one of these attacks occurs, respond by increasing your contributions to the PURL programme or by providing air defence interceptor missiles. Show that the Russian premise behind these activities is false and that they are only strengthening our resolve," Grynkewich said.
He also emphasised the importance of coordination among NATO allies when responding to Russian hybrid operations.
According to Grynkewich, Moscow must receive a coordinated response rather than "chaotic and uncoordinated" signals from individual countries. Allies must also clearly communicate to Russia where their "red lines" lie.
