NYT: Putin Sets A Goal For Russia's Security Services For 2026

Russia may try to test NATO's unity.

In late 2025, Vladimir Putin held a closed-door meeting during which he set a goal for the Russian intelligence services and military for 2026: “to dismantle NATO and the EU from within.” One of the Kremlin’s main tools is to be the destabilization of Western countries and testing the Alliance’s unity.

This is reported by The New York Times reports, citing officials from both countries familiar with the meeting’s contents.

Russia May Attempt to Test NATO’s Unity

According to the publication, the closed-door meeting took place in December 2025. It was then that Putin allegedly tasked the Russian military and intelligence services with undermining NATO and the European Union from within.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. intelligence assessments, reported that Russia might attempt to split NATO by testing the allies’ readiness to fulfill their mutual defense commitments.

Possible scenarios mentioned included a cyberattack, an operation involving unidentified armed groups, or a limited incursion into one of the countries on NATO’s eastern flank.

According to Western intelligence agencies, the goal of such an operation may be not only to inflict direct damage but also to provoke a political crisis within the Alliance regarding how exactly to respond to Moscow’s actions.

After Ukraine, one of the Kremlin’s top priorities is Moldova

According to the NYT, Moldova occupies a special place in Russia’s plans. Representatives of Western intelligence agencies told the publication that the Kremlin’s top foreign policy goal remains the seizure of Ukraine, with the next objective being to establish control over Moldova.

According to their information, Putin still intends to seize southern Ukraine to create a land corridor toward Moldova.

Western intelligence officials consider Moldova strategically important to Russia because of its location between Ukraine and Romania, a NATO and EU member state. If Russia were to establish control over Moldova, it could use its territory as a springboard to exert further pressure on Ukraine and the West.

Russia is stepping up hybrid operations against Europe

Bundeswehr Inspector General Carsten Breuer stated that hybrid attacks on NATO countries, especially on the eastern flank, occur virtually every day.

According to him, Moscow is increasingly conducting operations in the “gray zone” aimed at destabilizing European governments and institutions, and is also using drones to identify vulnerabilities in security systems.

Against this backdrop, Poland and the Baltic states are strengthening the protection of critical infrastructure, particularly dams, gas pipelines, and power plants.

Earlier, Reuters, citing an intelligence official from one of the Baltic states, reported that the Russian military and intelligence services are considering the possibility of a provocation using Ukrainian-made drones. According to the agency’s source, authorization for such an operation would have to be granted by Russia’s top leadership, including Putin.

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