European intelligence services have already warned their governments that Russia may be planning sabotage operations on the continent. A series of blatant and coordinated incidents, such as the exposure in Estonia of persons suspected of vandalizing a minister's car, or the suspects in alleged attacks on military bases in Germany, according to European officials, may be the hand of GRU military intelligence.
Bloomberg writes about it, UNN reports .
Details
In Germany, two suspects hired by Russian intelligence to attack military bases came to the country as teenagers. In Estonia, young people with criminal records were recruited via Telegram to vandalize a minister's car and national monuments for a small sum of money. In Poland, prosecutors arrested a man accused of collecting information about the airport, which serves as a major stopover point for officials traveling to and from Ukraine, on suspicion of facilitating a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
From Berlin to Vilnius, NATO governments are beginning to recognize the growing threat of Russian-sponsored acts of sabotage and violent intimidation on NATO soil ahead of next month's European Union elections, which, along with a targeted disinformation campaign, are designed to test support for Ukraine on the continent, Bloomberg reports.
For years, Russia has been sending death squads to Europe - Berlin, London, Salisbury, but also to other places. We had a terrorist recruited by Russia who tried to carry out a terrorist attack in Poland a few months ago, and I'm sure they are trying to do it in other countries as well
Among other incidents, the media mentioned the derailment of trains in Sweden, which the country's security services suspect could be a series of sabotage. Meanwhile, the Czech Minister of Transport claims that Russia tried to destroy the signaling systems of Czech railways. In the United Kingdom, prosecutors have accused two men of collaborating with Russia in the alleged firebombing of a warehouse with equipment intended for Ukraine.
Officials point out that a number of recent attacks have common features: they often involve locals hired mostly online through intermediaries to target targets in the West.
These actions are a new threat in terms of their aggressiveness, methods, and scale, Bloomberg points out .
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that the allegations that Russia is planning sabotage in Europe are "just another series of unfounded accusations against our country," Interfax news agency reported.
Recall
European intelligence services warn of Russia's plans for large-scale sabotage across the continent, including explosions, arson and attacks on infrastructure that could lead to civilian casualties.