Though it’s already been overshadowed in the deluge of post-election analysis of Donald Trump’s victory, Tuesday also marked a serious escalation of Russia’s global campaign of sabotage and intimidation targeting the US and other Western powers.
Polling sites in several states received bomb threats — later determined not to be credible — which the FBI said in a statement “appear to originate from Russian email domains.” The threats forced several polling places to close temporarily in the swing state of Georgia. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters on Tuesday, “We identified the source, and it was from Russia.” Polling sites in the swing states of Michigan and Arizona also received threats, though it’s unclear if these was part of the same campaign.
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As anyone following American politics over the past decade knows, the Russian government has tried to meddle in US campaigns before. As was the case in the past two elections, the Russian government was believed to prefer Trump, who speaks frequently of his good relationship with President Vladimir Putin and has been critical of both NATO and US support for Ukraine.
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Andrei Soldatov, an investigative journalist and analyst who has written several books on Russia’s security services, says this year’s campaign targeting the US election differed from past efforts. It was also different from recent alleged campaigns of fraud to help Moscow’s preferred candidates in elections in the former Soviet states of Georgia and Moldova.
“The goal was not actually to change the results of the election,” Soldatov told Vox. “It was about posturing, about reminding Americans what’s at stake, and sending a message about what might happen if America continues its support for Ukraine.”
Though the election is over, Russia’s efforts to transmit this message are not, and they ultimately might take forms that are more violent and destructive than empty bomb threats.
Out of the gray zone and into the blue
Two days before the election, the Wall Street Journal reported that Western security services believed two incendiary devices seized on board planes in Europe over the summer were a test run for a Russian operation to start fires on US-bound planes. The devices detonated without injuries at logistics hubs in Germany and the UK, but the head of Poland’s intelligence agency said, “I’m not sure the political leaders of Russia are aware of the consequences if one of these packages exploded, causing a mass casualty event.” The Russian government has denied involvement.
This follows a campaign of arson and sabotage across Europe that intelligence officials say demonstrates an increasing recklessness on the part of the Kremlin. As the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6 put it, “Russian intelligence services have gone a bit feral, frankly.”
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