HANKO - Joe Daniel

Hybrid Warfare is being waged by Russia across the entire European Union hiding behind a flimsy cloak of deniability. Poland is amongst those countries suffering from such continued aggression in spite of the strenuous efforts of the Government's counter-intelligence institution. Brigadier-General Wiktoria Hanko highlighted to its Cabinet, along with Lieutenant-General Grzegorz Politczek - the Head of Poland's Internal Security, just what Hybrid Warfare can do to disrupt the day-to-day life of its Society. Only a few weeks later rail track near Lublin is severely damaged by explosives planted by 'persons unknown'. However, the rail line is used to move munitions to Ukraine and with prior intelligence from Western sources, Russian agents appeared to be the mostly probable perpetrators. Subsequently, a cyber attack on Energy Installations threatened to remove central heating from over half a million homes in the height of winter at New Year but prior action by the authorities had ensured the separation of operational software to prevent the installation of damaging and dangerous malware - seemingly from a known cyber hacker based in Russia. Whilst on a skiing holiday in France, Wiktoria Hanko witnessed the murder by poisoning of two journalists and their young children who had fled Russia at the start of the Ukraine Invasion in 2022. Importantly, she identified the murderers as two Russian intelligence officers ,who were also prime suspects in respect of the rail-line bombing. The Polish and Slovak Internal Security Forces had suspected that, in conjunction with the Russian Mafia, there were 'safe houses' in north-east Slovakia from where missions were launched across the European Union. A small team was formed to look for such places leading to the discovery of three shia radical Quds Iranians, a Russian Mafia safe house from where its trafficking business was conducted, and a Russian plot to carry out a terrorist attack on Krakow.