Russia Intensifies Attempts To Kill Opponents In Europe, Officials Say

Russian efforts to kill opponents in Europe have intensified since President Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to three Western intelligence officials who spoke to the Associated Press.

“Russia is ramping up its attempts to kill opponents in Europe, intelligence officials say Russia is ramping up its attempts to kill opponents in Europe, intelligence officials say From AP’s Standards and Stylebook teams: The AP is using anonymous sourcing to provide information for this story”

Associated Press

The AP reported that Russian operatives were suspected in the killing of a defected Russian helicopter pilot in Spain in 2024, and that Polish authorities arrested a man in 2024 in what they said was a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Associated Press

In southwestern France, the AP said Russian activist Vladimir Osechkin has lived under protection since 2022 because French officials believe Russia is trying to kill him, and that in April 2025 a crew of Russian men staked out his home and the surrounding area for several hours.

The AP also said the campaign is tied to broader efforts to undermine European countries that support Ukraine, including “191 acts of sabotage, arson and other disruption linked to Russia” mapped across Europe since the beginning of the war.

In France, the AP reported that three of the four men detained in the plot to kill Osechkin traveled to the beach resort of Biarritz in April 2025 and surveilled his house “with a view to assassinating him”.

An AP senior European intelligence official said of the campaign, “This campaign is not by accident or chance,” adding “There is political authorization.”

The AP reported that Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the outlet he didn’t see “any need” to comment, while Russian officials have previously denied that Moscow is behind attempts to kill opponents abroad.

France 24

France 24, meanwhile, described a broader pattern of Russian “guerre hybride” in Europe involving “Sabotages, drones, tentatives d’assassinat…,” and said 2025 saw a “baisse d’intensité” of hybrid operations after a peak in 2024.

France 24 quoted specialist Bart Schuurman saying that “Ces opérations doivent permettre à leurs auteurs de nier toute implication,” and it linked the shift to factors including European intelligence services becoming “plus efficaces.”

France 24 also reported that Vladimir Ossetchkine escaped an assassination attempt on 12 septembre 2025, and that a month later four men residing in France were interpellés and mis en examen for attempting to kill him.

While the AP described targeted killings abroad, Le Devoir and La Presse focused on the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison, with Le Devoir quoting the line “I can't stop crying,” from Olga after learning of his death.

“Guerre hybride russe en Europe : moins intense en 2025 avant un rebond en 2026”

France 24

La Presse said Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence for “extremism” in a remote Arctic penal colony and that “The causes of death are being determined,” according to the penitentiary services.

La Presse reported that Navalny’s wife Yulia Navalnaya called on the international community to acknowledge that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “personally responsible” for her husband’s death, and she said “They will be punished for what they did to our country, to my family and to my husband.”

In Munich, La Presse reported that U.S. President Joe Biden was “outraged,” accusing Vladimir Putin of being “responsible for Navalny's death,” and it said the Kremlin’s number-one opposition figure died after a medical episode following a walk on February 16, 2024.

Le Devoir added that Navalny’s death at 47 leaves an opposition “depleted of its leading figure, just one month before the presidential election,” and it quoted Vera Grantseva saying “It’s a police state. Every expression of a political idea can end up in prison and death.”