Killing, Spying, Poisoning: the Netherlands’ Intelligence Has Exposed the Full Arsenal of moscow’s Crimes

russia remains the greatest and most immediate threat to peace in Europe – this is the main conclusion of the annual report by the Military Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands (MIVD).

The kremlin is systemically undermining the stability of the democratic world on dozens of fronts simultaneously – cyberattacks, sabotage, espionage, disinformation, chemical weapons, and the expansion of nuclear arsenal.

All of this is deliberately kept below the threshold of open armed conflict – so that the West has no formal grounds for a symmetrical response. This is the cold calculation of a regime seeking to rewrite the rules of the world order in its own favor.

Despite colossal losses in the war against Ukraine – over 1.2 million killed and wounded – russia continues to rearm and prepare for a possible conflict with NATO. Its ally in this is China, which, under the guise of neutrality, supplies moscow with technology and supports it economically. Together, they form an axis which openly challenges the liberal international order.

The kremlin is also actively expanding its influence in the global periphery. In Africa, moscow is systematically pushing out Western influence by buying the loyalty of unstable regimes and blocking access to strategic raw materials. This allows russia to partially break through its international isolation and accumulate resources for further pressure on the West.

While in the east Ukraine is holding russia back from a direct strike against NATO, the rest of the kremlin’s operations continue without pause – and the scale of these operations had only grown in 2025.