Unit 29155: The secret Russian sabotage and terrorism team in Europe

There are several European leaders who warn that Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, are immersed in a campaign to destabilize the West, a kind of 'hybrid war' that Moscow always officially denies.

According to The Sun newspaper published this Saturday, Russia has an almost secret team, Unit 29155, in charge of infiltrating European countries and carrying out sabotage operations and even terrorism.

Often known as 'the ghosts of the Kremlin', Unit 29155 is made up of assassins, saboteurs and terrorists who operate in the shadows of Russia's General Directorate of Military Intelligence (GRU).

Kamil Zwolski, associate professor and Jean Monnet Chair in European Security at the University of Southampton, told The Sun: "It's interesting how this unit fits into Russia's broader and ever-evolving strategy of achieving objectives abroad."

"When we talk about elite units like this, they do what you might call 'custom dirty work,'" Zwolski says.

Unit 21955 has carried out much of its work in Ukraine, where they were deployed as part of a GRU (the military intelligence service of the Russian Armed Forces) mission to support the insurgency in eastern Ukraine led by Wagner's paramilitaries.