Dim Amor
A dramatic report published in the British newspaper The Telegraph reveals a dangerous escalation in Putin’s hybrid war against the West: a sophisticated network of tunnels dug in Belarus is being used to funnel hundreds of migrants into European Union territory. Intelligence assessments indicate that professional expertise from Hamas and Hezbollah was leveraged for the project, with funding and direction from the Kremlin.
As Europe attempts to stabilize its security in the face of the direct Russian threat, a new and troubling front is emerging beneath the surface – quite literally. An investigation by the Polish Border Guard, the details of which were published today (Wednesday) in British media outlets, suggests that Russia and Belarus have adopted tactics familiar from Middle Eastern conflict zones in an effort to undermine Poland’s sovereignty.
Middle Eastern Engineering in the Service of the Kremlin
According to The Telegraph, Moscow is harnessing its strategic ties with the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah to advance efforts of forced migration. Intelligence sources estimate that "experts from the Middle East" were responsible for designing and executing the excavation of tunnels crossing the border from Belarus into Poland.
Although Kurdish elements are also mentioned among those suspected of providing logistical support, the close and strengthening ties between Putin’s regime and the Iranian axis and its proxies reinforce suspicions that engineering expertise accumulated in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon has been "imported" into the forests of Eastern Europe. The overarching objective is clear: to create clandestine infiltration routes that bypass the physical and technological barriers Poland has erected along its border.
Discovery in the Heart of the Forest: "In the Style of The Great Escape"
Data from the Polish Border Guard paint the picture of a complex engineering operation. Lieutenant Colonel Katarzyna Zdanowicz, a senior officer in Poland’s security forces, revealed that during 2025 four active underground tunnels were discovered.
The most significant tunnel was uncovered in mid-December near the village of Narewka. The underground structure, approximately 1.5 meters in height, allowed for substantial human movement. The entrance on the Belarusian side was carefully concealed within a wooded area, while the tunnel extended roughly 50 meters within Belarus and penetrated about 10 meters into sovereign Polish territory.
The British report compared the tactic to the iconic 1963 film The Great Escape, depicting the daring tunnel excavation by Allied prisoners from a Nazi camp. However, the reality of 2025 is far from cinematic: approximately 180 migrants, most of them from Afghanistan and Pakistan, managed to cross through this tunnel alone before being detained by Polish security forces immediately upon emerging above ground.
Hybrid Warfare: A New Level of Escalation
Belarus’s attempts, backed by Russia, to inundate Europe with tens of thousands of migrants are not new. However, the shift from overt fence-crossing to the use of sophisticated underground infrastructure marks a dramatic intensification. The involvement of non-European experts is intended to provide the Kremlin with a tactical advantage over the advanced defense systems of NATO and the European Union.
National security experts note that this development serves as further evidence of Putin’s determination to exert political and social pressure on the West through the use of what they describe as a "human weapon". The ability to covertly insert large groups of individuals without triggering ground sensors or aerial surveillance systems constitutes a direct challenge to the security of Europe’s borders.
Photo: AP. Used in accordance with Section 27A of the Copyright Law.
