Moscow is moving from the threat of nuclear attack to sabotage across Europe, and the Kremlin has the means to carry out such plans because it already has infiltrators in every country, analysts say. They also showed what the Russians’ targets could be in Romania
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European spy agencies have warned their governments that Russia is planning violent acts of sabotage across the continent, informs the “Financial Times”. We are talking about hidden bomb attacks, arson attacks and destruction of infrastructure on European territory, directly and through intermediaries, without much apparent concern for possible civilian casualties, believe the officials of the intelligence services.
While Kremlin operatives have a long history of such operations—and have launched sporadic attacks in Europe in recent years—evidence of more aggressive and effective actions is mounting. Intelligence officials are becoming increasingly vocal about this threat in an effort to promote vigilance. “We appreciate that the risk of acts of sabotage controlled by the state has increased significantly”, said Thomas Haldenwang, head of the German domestic intelligence service. Russia now seems to feel comfortable conducting operations on European soil “with a high potential for damage”, he stated at a security conference hosted by his agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Haldenwang spoke just days after two German-Russian nationals were arrested in Bayreuth, Bavaria, for allegedly plotting to attack military and logistics sites in Germany on behalf of Russia.
Attacks in the UK, Sweden and Estonia
At the end of April, two men were accused in the UK of causing a fire at a warehouse containing aid packages for Ukraine. British prosecutors accuse them of working for the Russian government.
In Sweden, security services are meanwhile investigating a series of recent rail derailments, which they suspect may be acts of state-sponsored sabotage. Russia then tried to destroy the signaling systems of the Czech railways, the country’s transport minister told the FT last month.
On the other hand, in Estonia, an attack on the interior minister’s car in February and those on journalists in Esto were carried out by Russian intelligence agents, the country’s Internal Security Service said. Finally, the French Ministry of Defense also warned this year of possible Russian sabotage attacks on military installations.
Coordinated actions on a large scale
“The obvious conclusion is that there has been a real intensification of Russian activity,” said Keir Giles, senior consultant at the Chatham House think-tank. “It cannot be said whether this reflects the fact that the Russians are investing more resources in this activity; if they are more negligent and are caught; or whether Western counterintelligence services have simply become better at detecting and stopping them”, he added. “Whatever it is – still a lot of things happen.”
A high-ranking European government official said that through NATO security services information is being exchanged about “clear and convincing malicious actions by Russia”, which were also coordinated on a large scale. The time has come to “raise awareness and focus” on the threat of Russian violence on European territory, he added.
NATO issued a statement expressing deep concern about Russia’s “increasing malign activities on allied territory,” noting what it said was an “escalating campaign … in the euro-zone Atlantic”.
Bargaining leverage
Rear Admiral (r) Constantin Ciorobea, ex-deputy head of the Information Operations Section of the NATO Command in Italy, said that these actions by Russia are a result of the fact that the threat of a nuclear attack on the allies is no longer something to be taken into account. “Such a warning has already expired with the nuclear attack. They keep using it for every NATO exercise, every installment of arms or ammunition sent to Ukraine. Moreover, such an announcement does not sit well with China or India, and Russia depends on the two countries through economic contracts, to say the least. Now comes the new tranches of Western weaponry for Kiev. What is the Kremlin doing? Use this threat of bombings as bargaining leverage, blackmail rather. The Russians probably want an armistice on these positions that suit them, as far as they are concerned,” supports Constantin Ciorobea.
The rear admiral claims that Russia has the means to carry out such attacks in Europe. “They have infiltrated people all over Europe, stratified at every level, from laborer to banker. They can be activated at any time even with a related payment. So such missions are possible. Let’s hope that the services of European countries are ready to combat such missions. In our country, possible targets would be CFR highways on which supplies to Ukraine pass and road access roads used for the same purpose, but that’s about it. I hope that those responsible have taken the necessary measures”stated Constantin Ciorobea.
