Romania's intelligence service said it had uncovered a Russian-coordinated sabotage network. According to the service, the group was linked to a fire in September at an industrial site in central Romania, near the “Carfil“ arms factory in Brasov. The investigation was conducted in cooperation with local and foreign partners.
Romanian authorities claim that the network's coordinators were based in the Russian Federation and assigned tasks for various targets in the region. These include state and private arms production facilities, as well as other sites of military and industrial interest.
“Coordinators in the Russian Federation have assigned the group a wide range of targets in the region: state and private arms production facilities, as well as other sites of military and industrial interest“, the Romanian intelligence service said.Three foreign nationals under investigation
Three foreign nationals are under investigation by the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism. They are one Ukrainian and two Belarusians.
Two of the suspects were arrested in Germany, where, according to Romanian authorities, they planned similar operations. The third was found in Poland. The Court of Appeal in Bucharest has issued European arrest warrants for the three in their absence.
The Romanian authorities are taking the necessary steps to extradite them to Romania. At this stage, the information reported relates to the investigation and allegations of the Romanian services, and not to final court sentences.
Russia denies the accusations
The information collected so far indicates that the network's tasks were not limited to Romania. According to the Romanian intelligence service, the assigned targets included sites throughout the region.
Russia has repeatedly denied accusations of sabotage in Europe. Romanian authorities continue the procedures in the case and the actions to hand over the three suspects to Romanian justice.
Sources: bta.bg, romaniajournal.ro, antena3.ro