It's Monday. Welcome to the

Afterd.

Okay.

Okay.

Fair enough.

Once again, it's the late afternoon bulletin. You could possibly even call it depending on where you are, the early evening bulletin. But that's beside the point. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right. Let's get briefed.

First, senior NATO officials have issued a stark warning about the growing threat posed by the Kremlin's

shadow war against Ukraine's Western allies, which they say risks triggering a wider conflict.

Then Syria's de facto leader announces it could be years before elections are held,

dashing hopes for democracy in the near term for the war-torn nation.

But first, our afternoon spotlight.

We'll begin in Europe, where NATO leadership is sounding the alarm on Moscow's escalating campaign

of hybrid warfare against Kiev's Western allies.

James Apathoride, Deputy Assistant Secretary General of NATO,

warned Sky News in a recent interview that there is a, quote, real prospect for an unconventional

attack by Russia against the alliance, such as an act of sabotage or arson, they could result

in mass casualties and put NATO on a path to war. A pathoride,

who is leading efforts in the alliance to better track and deter so-called hybrid attacks,

said NATO members must communicate clear red lines and response scenarios to the Putin regime

to prevent a broader clash from erupting

in Eastern Europe.

As we've been covering here on the PDB, Russia has been waging a campaign of sabotage against

...