Secret Russian cyber attacks on West ‘could lead to fatalities’

Russian president Vladimir Putin meets Chinese president Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in Xiamen, China, yesterday. Photo: Getty Images

Roland Oliphant

Covert Russian cyber attacks against Western countries could cause civilian fatalities and potentially escalate into a real-world military confrontation, Latvia’s foreign minister has warned.

Edgars Rinkevics said Russia might use a massive war game this month to probe Nato’s resilience to full-spectrum “hybrid” warfare, including propaganda and cyber attacks that Moscow has previously used against Ukraine.