Three bombs go off on an average night in the Netherlands, blowing out windows and sometimes causing injury or death.
the blasts, usually caused by illegal fireworks with the strength of a grenade, have created a sense of unease.
The explosions have shaken communities across the Netherlands: In the first half of this year, the authorities recorded nearly 700 such bombings. The explosions cause fear, damage homes and livelihoods, and have occasionally led to deaths or injuries.
Our Dutch friends are not alone with this problem. Dutch intel warned in April this year of Russia ramping up hybrid attacks against the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.
Another reminder why Europe needs to wake up, and that a substantial part of Nato countries’ defense spending is dedicated to non-military defense such exactly these bombings, arson attacks, inflammable parcels, and similar violence against the population.
I just posted some reports in another thread, and it fits also here:
In May 2025, a report titled, “Testing the waters: Suspected Russian activity challenges Europe’s support for Ukraine”, listed 190 events since 2022 across Europe (you’ll find tables and map in the article), ranging from arson to cyber attacks, form jamming to vandalism, from flammable parcels to drone overflights, and form physical attacks to spying. The report states that the real number is probably higher than the reported 190.
Another investigation in the UK released just in July 2025 shows a massive surge in arson attacks in London neighbourhoods in 3 years as arson offences across the city have increased by 28 per cent, from 1,894 incidents reported in 2022 to 2,430 recorded in 2024, according to data published by the London Assembly. A quarter of those involved people aged 17 and under, according to the London Fire Brigade.
In April this year, Chinese officials have implicitly acknowledged responsibility for a series of sophisticated cyber intrusions targeting critical U.S. infrastructure as representatives from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs indirectly linked years of computer network breaches at U.S. ports, water utilities, airports, and other critical targets to increasing U.S. policy support for Taiwan.
This is just a start. You’ll find much more across many independent sources.
This doesn’t have anything to do with Russia, but with organised crime. Unless you have other information.
russia is deeply involved in organized crime and has been for a long time. that’s part of hybrid warfare
Another Dutchy here, Russia has been suspected of both spionage and sabotage here and there also in The Netherlands but haven’t heard them being tied to any of these explosions. These explosions have been a problem for 10+ years. The amount of explosions has increased over time and the problem is only getting bigger. Russia might feel inspired or use this method to hide their involvement, but it in general those two problems have their own source.
I follow Dutch media daily and haven’t heard anything about Russia being involved.