Russia is sabotaging defense plants in Europe: what methods does the Kremlin use?
фото: Reuters
Russia is conducting a new campaign of sabotage against defense facilities in Europe, involving local criminal groups in the attacks. According to Western intelligence sources, the operations are planned to test NATO’s response without creating formal grounds for invoking Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
This is reported by The Telegraph .
One of the latest incidents was the arson of the building of the Estonian company Milrem Robotics on the night of August 15. The company supplies unmanned ground vehicles to Ukraine.
On August 10, an explosion occurred at the factory of the Bulgarian company EMCO, one of the largest private arms manufacturers in the country. The company, in particular, produces 155-mm artillery ammunition for Ukraine. The fire broke out after a truck parked near the warehouse caught fire.
Three days later, an explosion occurred at the KNDS Ammo Italy plant in Colleferro near Rome. A fire broke out in the gunpowder processing plant, but the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Italian and Bulgarian officials have tried to downplay Russia’s possible involvement in these incidents, while Western intelligence sources have stressed that Moscow rarely leaves direct evidence that would unequivocally establish its involvement.
According to the publication, the Russian military intelligence agency GRU has changed its approach to sabotage in Europe. Instead of sending its own agents, Russian special services are establishing contacts with representatives of local criminal groups through online messengers, in particular Telegram.
The intermediaries then distribute the tasks among local executors. According to sources, they may be paid in cryptocurrency, and some of the executors do not even know that they are working for the interests of Russian intelligence services. In this way, the Kremlin is trying to test the readiness of NATO countries to respond to sabotage and at the same time sow discord among the allies.
“With each attack that goes unpunished, the Russians gather their own useful information about how far they can go in violating NATO’s borders. This turns each violation into a game of survival between Western capitals and Moscow,” the publication notes.
NATO’s eastern flank, including Poland and the Baltic states, has been more vocal in accusing Russia of such incidents, while Italy and Germany have tended to refrain from making direct accusations for fear of further escalation.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has previously said that Vladimir Putin is preparing Russia for a potential attack on the alliance within the next five years. Against this backdrop, Western officials view Russia’s hybrid operations as a possible signal of further escalation.
By the way, Russia has probably started using captured Ukrainian long-range drones for provocations , in particular against NATO countries. The Russian military is repairing the surviving Ukrainian drones and preparing them for further use.
Recall that British intelligence believes that Russia may be preparing a direct provocation against the United Kingdom and its NATO allies in the coming months . According to the British side, the Kremlin may use the situation to test the reaction of the country’s new government.
It has previously been reported thatRussia may resort to provocations against NATO countries using drones disguised as Ukrainian ones. According to preliminary assessments, with such attacks the Kremlin may try to undermine trust in Ukraine and aggravate relations between Kyiv and its allies.
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