Romania thwarts suspected Russian-directed sabotage attempt

Romania’s authorities have arrested a 34-year-old Colombian national for attempting Russian-coordinated acts of sabotage targeting critical infrastructure, Romania newspaper Adevărul reports.

Russia has long acted as though it’s at war with the West, conducting assassinations, arson, and sabotage even as the West continues to operate under peacetime norms. Russian intelligence has been implicated in multiple high-profile attacks, including assassinating Chechen dissidents abroad, a 2018 nerve agent attack in the UK that killed British national Dawn Sturgess, and an assassination plot against Germany’s Rheinmetall CEO this year. Russian-backed arson and sabotage have also targeted sites in Poland, Slovakia, the Baltic states, Bulgaria, and the UK.

According to Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the suspect conducted surveillance activities in July 2024 at the direction of a foreign national residing in Russia. The Directorate says the suspect photographed and filmed various high-importance targets, planning to destroy them through explosions or fires in ways that would endanger national security.

DIICOT reports that police intervention prevented the completion of the criminal plan. The suspect, who has military training and intelligence gathering experience from his home country, was arrested and indicted on 13 November, with the case now being tried at the Bucharest Court of Appeal. The suspected saboteur was in pre-trial detention and was remanded in custody by the court.

Prosecutors have charged the suspect under Article 403 of Romania’s Criminal Code (terrorism) and Article 42, paragraph 1 of the Penal Code of Romania (preparation of terrorist acts). If convicted, the suspect faces 10-20 years imprisonment, Adevărul says.

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