Russian sabotage causes billions in losses to Britain: annual amount revealed

The Financial Times writes about this.

The report, titled “Putin’s Taxes,” covers the UK’s spending on eliminating the consequences of Russian attacks, restoring damaged infrastructure, and measures to strengthen the country’s resilience to Moscow’s hybrid threats.

The research, by Labour MP Graham Downey, was published on Wednesday. He said the actual damage is likely to be much higher than the estimates in the report. He said that due to a lack of government data, it is currently impossible to accurately determine the full cost of Russian hybrid activities.

The estimate of £2-2.5 billion consists of several main categories of damage:

• • £400-500 million – average annual losses from major incidents from 2022, including attacks affecting Jaguar Land Rover, Royal Mail and NHS suppliers;

• • £1.47 billion in losses from Russia-related cyberattacks. Estimated based on industry research and threat intelligence;

• • £250–500 million – losses due to damage to underwater communication cables and other related infrastructure.

The report also highlighted the lack of a unified system in the UK for assessing the economic consequences of hostile state activities, which means that the cost of many serious incidents remains uncertain.

The report emphasizes that due to a lack of data, neither parliamentarians nor the public have a full understanding of the real financial consequences of Russia’s hybrid warfare.

Earlier it was reported that the Main Intelligence Directorate warned partners about the preparation of Russian special services for hybrid operations in the EU and NATO countries. According to intelligence, the aim of such actions is to undermine assistance to Ukraine and weaken the capabilities of the Alliance.