2025-10-21 | Silicon Wafers 036 | DAILY UPDATES | Is Russia’s Hybrid War on Europe a precursor to a full incursion on European territory, or even the invasion of a European country? This is Silicon Wafers. Today: why Russia is probing and testing Europe, how hybrid attacks work, and what happens if the Kremlin pushes further escalating to a full invasion — and how we can deter it.Why the probing is intensifying - Moscow is stress-testing Europe’s seams, pulling at the threads to see if the fabric of our institutions and resilience will unravel. But it is conducting this below the threshold of open war — because hybrid pressure is cheap, deniable, and strategically useful. Sub-threshold does not trigger a direct armed response but can also achieve Russia’s strategic objectives without direct confrontation. It’s a war sandbox, for testing and learning. Think of it as a toolkit of rolling lab experiments in limited aggression: sabotage, arson, cyber, GPS jamming, “grey fleet” shenanigans at sea, drones in NATO airspace, and influence operations that launder Kremlin narratives through local proxies, compliant channels and criminal networks.----------Partner on this video: KYIV OF MINE Watch the trailer now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arJUcE1rxY0'Kyiv of Mine' is a documentary series about Ukraine’s beautiful capital, Kyiv. The film production began in 2018, and much has changed since then. It is now 2025, and this story is far from over.https://www.youtube.com/@UCz6UbVKfqutH-N7WXnC5Ykg https://www.kyivofmine.com/#theprojectKyiv of Mine is fast paced, beautifully filmed, humorous, fun, insightful, heartbreaking, moving, hopeful. The very antithesis in fact of a doom-laden and worthy wartime documentary. This is a work that is extraordinarily uplifting. My friend Operator Starsky says the film is “Made with so much love. The film series will make you laugh and cry.” ----------SOURCES: IISS — The Scale of Russian Sabotage Operations Against Europe’s Critical Infrastructure* (research paper, Aug. 2025). Council of the EU — Statement condemning Russia’s persistent hybrid campaigns (July 18, 2025); EU hybrid-threats sanctions framework (Oct. 8, 2024; prolonged Oct. 3, 2025)Reuters — Poland/Romania foil exploding-parcel plot (Oct. 21, 2025); Spanish minister’s jet GPS interference near Kaliningrad (Sept. 24, 2025); German CHOD: 5–8 year window (Apr. 18, 2024); Hybrid threat to Europe’s energy (Oct. 13, 2025)AP News — Arrests tied to parcel-bomb plot in Poland and Romania (Oct. 21, 2025)The Guardian — Sikorski on drone incursion: “tactically stupid and counterproductive” (Oct. 15, 2025)The Insider — Inside Russia’s Latvian Sabotage Squad (July 10, 2024)Meduza - ‘There has to be a cost’ — Russian sabotage spiked in Europe last year (Mar. 21, 2025)RFE/RL — Admiral Rob Bauer warning (NATO readiness) (Jan. 19, 2024); IISS sabotage overview (Aug. 20, 2025)UK Government — Condemnation of “malicious cyber activity by the Russian Intelligence Services” (May 3, 2024); UK/US advisory on Star Blizzard spear-phishing (Dec. 7, 2023)ACLED — Suspected Russia-linked hybrid incidents across Europe (2022–Apr. 2025)Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service — International Security and Estonia 2025 (threat horizon)----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------