Cut Cables, Phantom Drones, Frozen Cities: Putin Turns Up the Hybrid War Dial
From suspected Baltic sabotage to dubious Kremlin theatrics and relentless strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, Moscow signals it has no intention of de-escalating as Europe hesitates and winter bites.
As the final hours of 2025 tick away, I have the feeling that sometimes, as a global affairs analyst, I hate to be right. Sensing what he believes is soft tissue in Europe’s response, Vladimir Putin is escalating his hybrid war: probing undersea cables in the Baltic, muddying peace efforts with unsubstantiated claims of attacks on one of his residences, and continuing to punish Ukrainian civilians through systematic strikes on energy and port infrastructure. This is not brinkmanship by accident - it is pressure by design, and a sobering note on which to ring out the year.
A cargo ship severed an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland on Wednesday in what the Finnish police said they suspected was an act of sabotage that led them to seize the vessel. The ship, the Fitburg, was en route from St. Petersburg in Russia to the port of Haifa in Israel when it damaged a cable connecting the capitals of Helsinki in Finland and Tallinn in Estonia, the authorities said. The vessel was sailing under the flag of the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the time of the episode, which officials said happened around 5 a.m. local time. The cut did not disrupt service, according to Elisa, the Finnish telecommunications company that operates the cable. In a statement, Elisa said that its network was designed and secured with multiple routes, so services are not disrupted if a connection is cut. The Finnish authorities said on Wednesday that they were investigating the incident as “aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated interference with telecommunications.” On Wednesday, officials stopped short of pointing fingers at a possible foreign actor. “Hopefully it was not a deliberate act, but the investigation will clarify,” Alar Karis, Estonia’s president, said on social media of the damage to the cable. “The Estonian and Finnish authorities are working closely together to gather additional information.” The section of cable that was damaged was in Estonia’s “exclusive economic zone,” according to investigators, who said that the Fitburg was intercepted in Finnish waters with its anchor lowered into the sea. A tactical team with the Finnish Border Guard rappelled to the ship’s deck from helicopters before seizing the vessel and taking custody of its 14 crew members, the authorities said. The crew members were from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Russia. According to maritime records, the ship is managed and operated by Albros Shipping and Trading Ltd., which is based in Istanbul.. A second telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Estonia experienced an outage on Wednesday, though it was not immediately clear if the two events were connected. It was not the first time that an undersea cable in the Baltic region has been damaged - NYT
Moscow stuck to its guns again on Wednesday, furthering its claims of an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s dacha, in what allies have described as an apparent attempt to throw a spanner into US-led peace talks to end Russia’s all-out war. In the latest attempt at backing the Kremlin’s claims, the Russian defence ministry released a video purportedly showing a downed drone it said Kyiv launched at Putin’s residence in Novgorod overnight on Monday. The video shows a damaged drone lying in snow in a forested area at night, next to what appears to be a masked member of Russian military personnel talking about the UAV as the footage shows close-ups of the drone and its internal parts. In another segment of the footage, two masked Russian troops sitting inside a military vehicle state that “On the night of 29 December, an attempt was made to strike an aircraft-type UAV on the territory of a protected facility.” No evidence was provided to confirm that the alleged drone attack took place near Putin’s residence. Euronews could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage or the location where it was filmed. Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov initially dismissed providing further proof to back Moscow’s claims, stating on Tuesday, “I don’t think there needs to be any evidence here. Putin’s residence, also known as Dolgiye Borody or “Long Beards,” is situated near the town of Valdai, whose residents told domestic media outlets they did not witness any signs of a drone attack. “There was no noise that night, no explosions, nothing,” one resident told Mozhem Obyasnit outlet. “If something like that had happened, the whole town would have been talking about it.” - Euronews
Russian forces continued to attack Ukrainian energy and civilian facilities as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced new meetings with Kyiv’s European allies later this week to discuss the latest developments in the process aimed at ending the war. In a post on X, Zelenskyy said national-security advisers from the so-called Coalition of the Willing countries would hold a meeting in Ukraine on January 3. “Shortly after that, discussions will take place at the leaders’ level. These meetings are necessary,” Zelenskyy added, saying the leaders would meet on January 6. On December 31, regional authorities reported that six people were injured, including three children, as a result of a massive overnight Russian drone attack in the southern Odesa region. The authorities said the strikes were deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure. Ukraine’s leading private energy provider, DTEK, said that Russian strikes overnight targeted two of its energy facilities in the Odesa region, causing extensive damage. “The damage is significant. Restoring the equipment to working condition will take time,” DTEK said in a statement. According to DTEK, Russian forces have attacked 25 energy facilities across the Odesa region since the beginning of the year. The United Nations has warned that continued strikes on power and heating systems could pose severe humanitarian risks during the winter months, particularly for vulnerable populations, including the elderly, people with disabilities, and families with young children - RFE/RL
President Vladimir Putin used his traditional New Year’s address on Wednesday to project an image of Russians as united behind the country’s armed forces and the war in Ukraine, vowing victory on the battlefield as the conflict approaches its fourth year. “You have taken on the responsibility to fight for your native land, for truth and justice,” Putin said, addressing Russian troops on the front lines. “Millions of people across Russia, I assure you, are with you on this New Year’s night.” “I congratulate all our soldiers and commanders on the coming New Year. We believe in you and in our victory,” he added. Dressed in a black suit and dark-blue tie and standing in front of the Kremlin, Putin said Russians were “united by a sincere, selfless and devoted love for Russia.” Dec. 31 also marks the 26th anniversary of Putin coming to power after former President Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation in 1999. - Moscow Times
Iranian protesters demonstrating over economic hardship and a plummeting currency attempted to break into a local government building as the unrest continued for a fourth day. State media reported on Wednesday an organised group of “rioters” attempted to get into the local governorate building in Fasa in the southern province of Fars. Footage broadcast showed a group of people trying to break open the gate of the building. “Their attack failed with the intervention of security forces,” state media said. “The leader of these rioters, a 28-year-old woman, was arrested.” The semi-official Tasnim news agency cited a local official as saying three members of the security forces were wounded during the incident while four “attackers” had been detained. The demonstrations marked the fourth consecutive day of protests in Iran since shopkeepers in Tehran took to the streets on Sunday as the rial plunged to record lows against the US dollar, exacerbating economic hardship amid high inflation and rising living costs. The protests have since spread to several other cities. On Tuesday, students took to the streets in Tehran while protests also broke out at universities and institutions in the cities of Isfahan, Yazd and Zanjan, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported. Speaking at a business forum in Tehran on Wednesday, President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested foreign interference was involved in the unrest. While Iran’s government has said it is establishing a “dialogue mechanism” with protest leaders to listen to their concerns, Iran’s prosecutor general pledged a “decisive response” if protests prompted by the plummeting currency and dire economic conditions destabilise the country. In comments reported by Iranian state media on Wednesday, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad said peaceful protest was legitimate, but warned that attempts to create insecurity would draw a harsh reaction - Al Jazeera
Israel threatened to suspend the work of several major humanitarian organizations in Gaza over what it said were the groups’ refusal to provide details about their staff. The aid groups say they have provided information on their international workers, but are reluctant to do so for local employees for safety reasons. The standoff threatens to worsen what is already a catastrophic crisis: More than a million people in the Palestinian territory — which is grappling with flooding, a collapse of the sewage system, and a brutal winter — lack adequate shelter, with several European nations issuing a joint statement today warning of a “renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation.” - Semafor
The Trump administration is ending its attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, following a loss at the Supreme Court last week. Trump suggested troops could return to cities, despite the court’s 6-3 ruling that the president’s justification for sending National Guard personnel to Chicago was not sufficient. Trump had argued the National Guard would help reduce crime, and the troops have aided in immigration enforcement operations when deployed. Democratic officials at both the city and state level in all three jurisdictions sharply opposed Trump’s moves, suing in court to stop the deployments. Lower courts had halted the use of the Guard in several cases. National Guard troops were deployed on city streets in Los Angeles earlier this year. But while hundreds of troops were staged in Chicago and Portland, they had very limited public duties — including troops briefly appearing at a Chicago-area ICE facility and a Portland ICE building — amid legal wrangling before being withdrawn. “We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - Only a question of time!” Trump added on social media. Trump did not say whether National Guard deployments to other cities, including Washington, D.C. — where Trump has significantly more authority over the National Guard in the nation’s capital — and New Orleans will also cease. Separately, Trump said in an interview Wednesday that construction of his long-teased Triumphal Arch is expected to begin “sometime in the next two months.” That would put the start date ahead of July 4, 2026 — as the White House ramps up preparations for the nation’s 250th anniversary next year - Politico
After George Clooney said he felt that newly-named editor-in-chief Bari Weiss was “dismantling CBS News as we speak,” Weiss has responded by inviting him to visit the CBS newsroom. “Bonjour, Mr. Clooney! Big fan of your work. It sounds like you’d like to learn more about ours. This is an open invitation to visit The CBS Broadcast Center, where I’m spending the holidays working to relaunch the Evening News with my colleagues. Tune in January 5,” Weiss said in a statement shared by Paramount Skydance. The “bonjour” was presumably a reference to Clooney, his wife Amal and their twins becoming French citizens this week. In a wide-ranging interview with Brent Lang about his career and his latest film “Jay Kelly,” Clooney also touched on the upheaval at CBS News, politics and his activism. Clooney also addressed President Trump’s lawsuits against ABC News and CBS News in Variety‘s interview. “If CBS and ABC had challenged those lawsuits and said, ‘Go fuck yourself,’ we wouldn’t be where we are in the country,” Clooney says. “That’s simply the truth.” Weiss, who took over CBS News in October, recently came under fire for abruptly pullinga “60 Minutes” report on El Salvador’s CECOT prison - Variety
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