Hey there everyone,
Only about an hour after we had finished the live Q&A on the Russian shadow war against Europe on Wednesday night, Danish daily “Berlingske” went “breaking” with a rare interview with the Danish top counter-espionage official, Emil Græsholm (a former colleague of mine who now heads counter-espionage at the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, DSIS).
DSIS came out and warned against Russian recruitment, particularly online recruitment, of citizens to help prepare sabotage operations in Denmark, particularly against defence industrial companies with ties to Ukraine. DSIS emphasised concrete instances where Russians attempted to recruit Danes via social media networks and gaming platforms
DSIS underlined that Danish companies are targets of concrete Russian planning of sabotage and that Russian intelligence services are actively preparing acts of sabotage directed at the defence industry in Denmark. The agency also underline the seriousness of both deliberate and unwitting assistance for the Russians. Tasks like photographing facilities or infrastructure sites could seem innocent at first, but it sets people on a treasonous slope.
Starting the slippery slope of treason with a seemingly innocent task is an SOP for Russian intelligence!
Needless to say my phone went ballistic after that and I must have done 15 or 20 interviews for TV, Radio and written press since then.
If you watched the Q&A an hour earlier, you wouldn’t be the least surprised either. The pattern discovered by the DSIS follows what we’ve seen around Europe. So my first reply to journalists was that this was to be expected and Danes shouldn’t be shocked or fearsome. Russia is intensifying the shadow war and instead of reacting with fear we need to work out how to deter Putin.
If you didn’t watch my Live Q&A on Russia’s shadow war I have attached it below. My briefing goes over the background and dynamics and as usual lots of good questions afterwards from my paid subscribers. It wouldn’t be appropriate to say “enjoy” the content, but if you want to understand what’s going on you’ll appreciate it:-)
Cheers,
Jacob
