The latest warning, as reported yesterday by Spanish newspaper El Mundo, comes from the CIA: Russia would be ready to launch drones against Italy, Spain, and France. Specifically, these would be GERBERA decoy drones — the same ones that accompany waves of GERAN strike drones against Ukraine to confuse its air defenses — launched from merchant vessels sailing in the Mediterranean.

The warning appears fairly detailed and comes at a time of acute confrontation on the "gray zone" front between Europe and Russia — a context that may also include, for instance, the fire that broke out yesterday evening at the STARLINK ground station in Wola Krobowska, Poland — and at a time of intense pressure from Moscow against the Old Continent, which is increasingly on the front line in supporting Ukraine.

Now, regardless of how concrete this threat actually is or how credible the warning may be, its mere dissemination — the simple act of planting such a possibility — generates anxiety. It would therefore come as no surprise if we were to discover that the leak originated from Russia's own intelligence services, the GRU or SVR, aimed at sowing further confusion and fueling those segments of public opinion opposed to continuing the policy of aid to Kyiv — especially during an election season like the current one.

Instill fear, manipulate interpretive frameworks and perceptions, then cash in through the rise of so-called anti-system and anti-mainstream parties. A strategy the Russians inherited from the Soviets (between the 2, only the color of the suit has changed…), but one for which they now have new technological tools at their disposal: from generative AI to deepfakes, all the way to insidious drones.

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