Russia is increasingly trying to kill its opponents abroad, officials say

Key Points:

• Russian activist Vladimir Osechkin has lived under police protection in France since 2022 due to credible assassination threats linked to Russian operatives, including a recent surveillance operation in April 2025 targeting him.
• Western intelligence officials report a significant increase in Russian state-sponsored assassination attempts against activists, defectors, and supporters of Ukraine across Europe since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with political authorization from Moscow.
• Similar plots have been disrupted in Lithuania, Germany, Poland, and Spain, involving proxies recruited by Russian intelligence to carry out attacks, highlighting a broader Russian campaign to intimidate and destabilize European countries supporting Ukraine.
• Targets like Osechkin, Lithuanian activist Valdas Bartkevičius, and Ruslan Gabbasov face persistent threats but refuse to disappear, believing that retreat would serve Moscow’s objective of silencing dissent through fear.
• Despite many plots being foiled, European intelligence warns that Russian security services remain capable of assassinations on European soil, necessitating constant vigilance among potential targets and law enforcement.