The VRT investigation, conducted in cooperation with Investigative Journalists Network, reveals that Russia recruits these "one-off agents" through the prokremlian network of hackers on Telegramwith about 8,000 members. The network claims that by attacking government and city websites in Belgium itself, it acts against all supporters of Ukraine.
A VRT writer managed to penetrate the network and a fewer months later he received the first mission, which consisted in the spread of “ten “Fuck NATO” stickers in the neighbourhood of the European territory in Brussels in exchange for $50 (192 zł) in cryptocurrency. In another mission, coordinators in Russia asked him to collect 30 email addresses of Belgian journalists.
According to the VRT, the network operates not only in Belgium but besides in another countries supporting Ukraine. In January 2024, a 51-year-old Ukrainian citizen was recruited to set fire to a paint mill in Poland in exchange for $4,000 (about PLN 14.4 thousand), but was arrested before carrying out the mission. Later in Germany, the saboteur was paid EUR 100 (PLN 420) for spraying construction foam in the exhaust pipes of 200 cars.
Russia's fresh strategy
The Belgian and NATO authorities are aware of these methods. According to State Security, Belgian peculiar Forces, Russia uses “single-use agents” to make the impression that it can act wherever it wants, without identifying those behind sabotage missions.
"Missions commissioned by these freelancers or criminal organizations include both intelligence collection and propaganda, as well as military reconnaissance and sabotage," the Belgian peculiar Services stressed in their latest report.
NATO besides closely monitors this phenomenon, which has spread in fresh years after the expulsion of Russian spies operating in Europe under diplomatic cover. The first wave of expulsion occurred after poisoning in March 2018 of erstwhile Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England, and the second wave followed the start of a large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
"Since then, the strategy has changed and we have seen an increase in online recruitment for criminal activity. This is simply a real problem, due to the fact that specified recruitment is hard to follow," explains James Appathurai, assistant secretary-general of NATO for innovation, hybrid threats and cybersecurity.
