Russia is already at war with Europe. Ukraine's deputy foreign minister Serhii Kyslytsia delivered that stark assessment to The Guardian, warning that Moscow will "escalate escalating" without a decisive transatlantic response.
Kyslytsia, who served as Kyiv's UN ambassador, pointed to recent Russian provocations: decoy drones sent across Poland's border, fighter jets violating Estonia's airspace, and suspicious drone incidents that shut down flights at Munich and Copenhagen airports.
Moscow denies involvement, but Kyslytsya sees a pattern that represents calculated attempts to "move the red lines," the Guardian reports.
Sleeper agents positioned across EU countries
The deputy minister went further. Russia has infiltrated EU countries with "agents and moles" responsible for drone flights over airports in Denmark and Germany, as well as at allied military bases. He described these operatives as "konservy" – literally tin cans in Ukrainian – who can be activated or "opened" by Moscow when needed.
Cyberwarfare replaces conventional weapons
Here's what worries Kyslytsya most: European politicians still think in outdated terms.
"Many politicians are still keeping in their heads in the patterns and algorithms of the last century, where a war means boots on the ground and tanks moving in," he said.
"In the 21st century you don't need tanks to put technologically advanced countries on their knees."
Kyslytsia argued that cyberwarfare has become a central tool, stating that banking systems can be paralyzed without howitzers and that strategically deployed drones can achieve objectives more effectively than nuclear weapons.
The comments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with EU leaders at a Copenhagen summit this week. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that Europe faces its most difficult and dangerous situation since the end of World War II, with all countries affected by what she termed the "Russian hybrid war."
US-Ukraine relations warm after rocky start
On relations with Washington, Kyslytsia indicated that Ukraine's ties with the Trump administration have improved since February, when Trump criticized Zelenskyy during an Oval Office meeting.
According to the deputy minister, the US attitude toward the war is "moving," with greater recognition that Putin represents the main obstacle to peace.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the US agreed to share intelligence helping Ukraine strike targets deep inside Russia. Ukraine has spent months crippling Russian oil production through long-range drone campaigns.
Kyslytsia suggested the war is shifting in Ukraine's favor, citing improved relations with Washington, more substantive discussions in Europe, and Russia's failure to achieve a military breakthrough in its summer offensive. This assessment comes despite continued Russian territorial advances in several battlefield areas.
NATO responds to Russian threats
NATO has already begun responding to the airspace violations Kyslytsia described.
Norway will deploy F-35 fighters to Poland in October, with pilots authorized to shoot down Russian drones and aircraft crossing Polish airspace. The deployment follows multiple Russian violations in 2025, including a 10 September incident when about 19 to 23 Russian drones entered Polish territory, prompting Warsaw to shoot down the aircraft and invoke Article 4 of the NATO treaty.
NATO also launched the "Eastern Sentinel" initiative that deploys allied air and naval forces primarily along NATO’s eastern flank, including Poland, the Baltic states, and extending from Finland in the north down to Romania and Bulgaria in the south.