Russia using secret underground tunnels to flood West with migrants as it ramps up 'hybrid war' efforts

The Great Escape-style tactic marks a new escalation in the Kremlin’s hybrid war on Europe, in which Minsk has tried to send tens of thousands of migrants across Poland’s eastern frontier.

Polish officials said the specialists who designed and dug the tunnels had a “high level of expertise”.

A Bulgarian minister claimed Russian security services are helping migrants enter Britain and other European countries illegally.

Daniel Mitov, Bulgaria's interior minister, said: "Illegal migration inflows are an instrument for hostile regimes to destabilise the European Union and the United Kingdom.

"They are aiming to destabilise the welfare systems, plus, of course, through smuggling radicalised individuals, they create security issues for us".

Mr Mitov also claimed that some non-governmental organisations in Europe could be unknowingly aiding Russia and the smuggling gangs.

The minister told the Times: “They are neo-Marxist groups which are trying to justify their actions through philosophical or ideological constructs.

“Basically, let’s get all the poor people from the world and let them establish themselves here, the absolute freedom of movement, the non-existence of borders and so on and so forth".

“So unfortunately, we do have challenges with such non-governmental organisations which, maybe unwittingly, take part in the operations of those hostile states and the criminal networks which smuggle people illegally into the territory of the EU and the UK".

Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “It is clear that illegal migration into Europe and beyond is being driven not just by organised crime networks seeking to make a profit, but by hostile state actors seeking to destabilise Europe.

“That threat is real, growing and very serious, and I have made clear that we need to expand and strengthen our international co-operation to tackle it together.

"We will therefore continue to support Bulgaria and our other Nato allies in securing Europe’s external frontiers, and tackling every different type of threat we face from the Putin regime, including providing the specialist equipment, intelligence and training that will help our Bulgarian counterparts to defend their borders and disrupt these criminal operations".

Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has played a central role in steering migrants towards the European Union with state-controlled travel agencies offering them visas and transport.

Once at the border, Belarusian security forces escort the migrants toward Polish territory while blocking their retreat.

The practice, known as “instrumentalised migration”, sits within the “grey zone” of modern conflict - hostile actions designed to harm an adversary while staying just below the threshold of open warfare.

Starting in 2021, Belarus, acting as Russia’s proxy, relaxed entry rules for migrants from the Middle East and Africa, channelling them towards the borders of Poland and other NATO states.

The goal being to send starving and desperate migrants towards NATO, and if they are pushed back, attack NATO for being intolerant to migrants.

If they were accepted, social tensions in NATO countries increase, with ether outcome serving Russia’s aims to divide Europe, distract NATO and weaken Western unity.