The Power Vertical Podcast by Brian Whitmore
Aug 14, 2026 · 1 hr 5 min · 11 segments
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with James Sherr, an honorary fellow at the International Center for Defense and Security in Tallinn and an associate fellow of the…
James SherrGuest
Brian WhitmoreHost
Back in May, when Anne Keast Butler, the director of GCHQ, Britain's electronic surveillance agency, warned that Russia was about to embark on a wider sabotage and assassination campaign in Europe.
But truth told, it is not reasonable at all to suggest that Russia, in fact, already has opened up something of a front in Europe.
In September of last year, NATO fighter jets shot down multiple Russian drones that had violated Polish airspace.
Additionally, there have been explosives placed on a rail line in Poland, the jamming of aviation systems over Sweden, the hacking of a dam in Norway, and the foil plot to place explosive devices on cargo planes, just to name a few.
accused of plotting assassinations and sabotage across Europe on behalf of Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU.
I guess my question is, given all of this, what exactly is the CIA warning about that isn't already happening? What's your reaction to this latest U.S.
intelligence assessment? And how is what it says about Russia's plan to do any different than what Russia's already doing? Well,
First of all, the so-called hybrid stuff, and I hate this term, hybrid war, but I confess I haven't yet discovered a better one.
We've been cogitating over this for quite a while and for a good reason, because the West is very vulnerable to this.
Our entire legal and political culture stands in the way of addressing it properly.
We are still... part of a legal culture that draws an absolute distinction between peace and war.
Back in May, when Anne Keast Butler, the director of GCHQ, Britain's electronic surveillance agency, warned that Russia was about to embark on a wider sabotage and assassination campaign in Europe.
But truth told, it is not reasonable at all to suggest that Russia, in fact, already has opened up something of a front in Europe.
In September of last year, NATO fighter jets shot down multiple Russian drones that had violated Polish airspace.
Additionally, there have been explosives placed on a rail line in Poland, the jamming of aviation systems over Sweden, the hacking of a dam in Norway, and the foil plot to place explosive devices on cargo planes, just to name a few.
accused of plotting assassinations and sabotage across Europe on behalf of Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU.
I guess my question is, given all of this, what exactly is the CIA warning about that isn't already happening? What's your reaction to this latest U.S.
intelligence assessment? And how is what it says about Russia's plan to do any different than what Russia's already doing? Well,
First of all, the so-called hybrid stuff, and I hate this term, hybrid war, but I confess I haven't yet discovered a better one.
We've been cogitating over this for quite a while and for a good reason, because the West is very vulnerable to this.
Our entire legal and political culture stands in the way of addressing it properly.
We are still... part of a legal culture that draws an absolute distinction between peace and war.
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