Russia’s pressure on Europe will keep rising — Hodges
Retired US general, former US Army Commander in Europe Ben Hodges says European countries are facing increasing danger from Russia’s so-called "gray-zone operations" — attacks and provocations designed to destabilize and intimidate Europe without triggering a formal military response.
Speaking in an interview with Ukraine Breaking News, Hodges warned that Russian drone incursions, sabotage attempts and hybrid attacks will continue to escalate unless European governments finally impose real consequences on Moscow.
Hodges warns that Russia is effectively at war with Europe, even if Europe won’t admit it
According to him, Russia is using these incidents to frighten European populations and weaken support for Ukraine.
"These things are being done to distract European countries from supporting Ukraine — to get populations scared so they tell their government: ‘Don’t support Ukraine, we don’t want a war with Russia,’" — Hodges said.
He also stressed that Moscow is simultaneously probing Europe’s defenses — mapping air-defense response times, routes and vulnerabilities.
"This is also to probe, to test, to develop intelligence about how Europe is defended,"
— he noted.
Hodges said the only way to stop such actions is a firm, unified response from European leaders — long overdue, in his view.
"This is going to continue until European leaders can speak to their populations as adults and say: this is a threat, this is what’s at stake. Russia is doing this — it is a war against us, even if we don’t want it to be,"
— he emphasized.
The general warned that without decisive action, Russia will push further until "a real disaster happens," mentioning major European airports as potential future targets of provocations.
Hodges concluded that Europe has the resources to defend itself — but lacks the political confidence to act.
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