Russia’s war against the West is being ignored by “stubborn leaders”

A new study has declared Russia is 'far more threatening than has been acknowledged'

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Russian President Vladimir Putin in January 2025. (Photo: Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In an alarming new paper, an expert in Moscow’s unconventional warfare argues Western leaders are ignoring the escalating threat of espionage and covert operations.

It appears a few hundred SAS, Special Boat Service and Special Reconnaissance Regiment operators in the UK could be up against at least 20,000 “Spetsnaz” Russian special forces.

Of course, this needs to be put into context since the NATO total number of special forces would by far outnumber those of Russia - and Moscow’s troops absolutely are far less well-trained.

Nevertheless, Moscow has expanded its Spetsnaz special forces and GRU military spook battalions, and now has around 20,000 operators dedicated to covert and sabotage warfare.

The paper argues that, even though these elite forces are poorly trained in comparison with Britain’s SAS and American special forces, superiority in numbers is alarming.

It argues: “Considering that the total strength of Spetsnaz units is between 15,000 and 20,000 people, the lower quality of operations can be fully compensated by their number.”