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NATO is preparing to take a tougher approach against Russia's relentless cyber attacks, sabotage operations and drone intrusions in a move that is already stoking anger in Moscow.
The alliance's most senior military commander warned that simply reacting to threats from Vladimir Putin's regime was no longer working and that NATO must now consider striking first to deter future attacks.
'We are studying everything... On cyber, we are kind of reactive. Being more aggressive or being proactive instead of reactive is something that we are thinking about,' Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone told the Financial Times.
Despite Europe facing cable sabotage in the Baltic, crippling hacks and airspace violations in recent months, NATO has traditionally shied away from offensive cyber operations or direct confrontation.
But Dragone suggested that could soon change - with steps that would once have been seen as too bold for the defensive alliance.
A 'pre-emptive strike' could be considered a 'defensive action', he said, though admitting it was further away from the alliance's generic approach to problem-solving.
He asked: 'Being more aggressive compared with the aggressivity of our counterpart could be an option. [The issues are] legal framework, jurisdictional framework, who is going to do this?'
The Russian Foreign Ministry has since responded to Dragone's statement, saying: 'We view Giuseppe Cavo Dragone's statement about the possibility of preemptive strikes against Russia as an extremely irresponsible step, indicating the alliance's readiness to continue moving toward escalation.
'We see it [Dragone's statement] as a deliberate attempt to undermine efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis,' spokesperson Maria Zakharova added.
According to Zakharova, 'people making such statements must be aware of the ensuing risks and possible consequences, including for the alliance members themselves'.
Eastern European allies - on the front line of Russia's interference - have long demanded a stronger response.
A Baltic diplomat warned that if NATO simply continue to be reactive, it invites Russia to 'keep trying, keep hurting us'.
'Especially when hybrid warfare is asymmetric - it costs them little, and us a lot. We need to try to be more inventive,' they added.
Even successful NATO operations have exposed legal vulnerabilities. In Finland, the crew of a Russian-linked 'shadow fleet' ship suspected of cutting critical underwater cables walked free - as the attack took place in international waters.
Asked if that ruling effectively gives Russia free rein offshore, Finland's foreign minister Elina Valtonen responded frankly: 'Yes, and that's a problem'.
NATO points to its Baltic Sentry mission - expanded after multiple sabotage incidents - as proof that a determined show of force can halt Russia's mischief-making.
Dragone emphasised that since the beginning of Baltic Sentry, nothing has happened which shows the mission is working.
However, he also stressed the difficulty NATO faces due to the rules that constrain Western democracies but not the Kremlin.
The alliance and its members have 'much more limits than our counterpart because of ethics, because of law, because of jurisdiction. It is an issue. I don't want to say it's a loser position, but it is a harder position than our counterpart's,' he admitted.
Valtonen echoed that NATO must remain calm and deliberate, suggesting that a more aggressive approach is not necessarily required.
'We also should take a step back and really analyse what the aggressor is after. Then probably, we shouldn't be hysterical. We have our own playbook and we should trust it because it's quite robust,' he said.
But behind the scenes, defence chiefs believe pressure will only increase as Russia searches for new ways to strike NATO territory without triggering a formal military response.
The statements come just over 2 weeks after an explosion caused damage to the Warsaw-Lublin line that connects the Polish capital to the Ukrainian border.
Heavily hinting at suspected Russian involvement, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk earlier said the perpetrators would be caught 'regardless of who their backers are'.
A train driver first reported irregularities on the track at around 7.40am local time on November 14, prompting an inspection that revealed there was a damaged section near Mika, roughly 62 miles south-east of Warsaw.
Two passengers and several staff members were on the train but no injuries were reported, officials said.
And just under a week later, on November 19, NATO members Romania and Poland scrambled fighter jets after Russian attacks in Ukraine, with Bucharest saying a drone breached the country's airspace.
Moldova, which lies between Romania and Ukraine, also reported a drone breach, summoning the Russian ambassador.
Romania and Moldova have repeatedly seen violations of their airspaces, including drone fragments falling onto their soil, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The incident is the latest in a series of drone sightings across mainland Europe, which have increased in frequency since September when more than 20 Russian drones breached Polish airspace.
The origins of several of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are unknown, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has described them as 'hybrid warfare' waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin.