There is no way that NATO countries really do do gray area hybrid attacks on Russia. They are hesitant even about detaining tankers that are strongly suspected of cutting cables in international waters.
That is the main concern mentioned in the story. That a Finnish court wasn’t assertive enough about a tanker suspected of cutting their cables in international waters.
Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen says that being more assertive here is under review but allies shouldn’t be hysterical and trust existing frameworks:
In context
Concerns remain, however, after a Finnish court dismissed a case involving the Eagle S — a Russian-linked vessel suspected of damaging several underwater electricity and data cables — because the incident occurred in international waters.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen acknowledged to the FT that this effectively gives Russian vessels carte blanche in such waters. She added that becoming more assertive is under review but cautioned that allies “shouldn’t be hysterical” and should “trust” existing response frameworks.
https://kyivindependent.com/nato-may-get-more-aggressive-in-countering-russias-hybrid-attacks-top-military-official-tells-ft/
So being more assertive might include Finnish courts agreeing to detain tankers in international waters that are suspected of cutting cables.
That is something they CAN do under international law and I’m not sure why they didn’t. France detained a tanker, the Borocay suspected of being the launchpad of the drones that flew over Denmark.
https://www.reuters.com/world/france-investigates-suspected-offence-by-sanctioned-oil-tanker-2025-09-30/
Dragone, chairman of the alliance’s Military Committee says - KNOWING IT IS CONTROVERSIAL AND WOULDNT BE AGREED TO - that NATO members should consider responding to Russian gray area hybrid attacks with hybrid attacks back especially in cyber where the allies have a lot of expertise.
The headlines tend to not mention that he goes on to say that NATO has many legal constraints that likely prevent this.
Also some stories are claiming he was talking about military strikes but he never said that.
This is the part not mentioned in headlines and first paragraphs:
Also his examples of deterrence that works do NOT involve attacking back.
Baltic sentry - using ships aircraft and drones to patrol the Baltic has stopped the drone attacks there
However there are some concerns about Finland dismissing a case about a Russian linked vessel suspected of damagingi underwater electrical and data cables because the incidents happened in international waters.
While some NATO members, particularly in Eastern Europe, have pressed for a tougher posture, Dragone said any change requires careful consideration of legal and jurisdictional limits. “Being more aggressive compared with the aggressivity of our counterpart could be an option. [The issues are] legal framework, jurisdictional framework, who is going to do this?” he said.
Dragone highlighted NATO’s Baltic Sentry mission as an example of successful deterrence.
The operation deploys allied ships, aircraft, and naval drones to monitor critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea following multiple cable-cutting incidents in 2023 and 2024. “From the beginning of Baltic Sentry, nothing has happened. So this means that this deterrence is working,” he told the FT.
Concerns remain, however, after a Finnish court dismissed a case involving the Eagle S — a Russian-linked vessel suspected of damaging several underwater electricity and data cables — because the incident occurred in international waters.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen acknowledged to the FT that this effectively gives Russian vessels carte blanche in such waters. She added that becoming more assertive is under review but cautioned that allies “shouldn’t be hysterical” and should “trust” existing response frameworks.
Dragone said the central challenge for NATO is determining how to prevent future hybrid attacks. “How deterrence is achieved — through retaliation, through pre-emptive strike — this is something we have to analyse deeply because there could be in the future even more pressure on this,” he said.
https://kyivindependent.com/nato-may-get-more-aggressive-in-countering-russias-hybrid-attacks-top-military-official-tells-ft/
