Romanian intelligence warns of Russian-linked sabotage recruitment exploiting vulnerable citizens

The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) cautioned that Russian-controlled sabotage groups are enlisting Romanian citizens via social-media offers of cash for low-risk tasks, such as observing or photographing targets. Over time, these assignments can progress to destructive acts, including fires and assassinations, with refusals potentially punished through intimidation or blackmail. The networks exploit financial hardship, substance dependencies and prior criminal records, masking their movements by using transport, lodging and payment methods registered to other individuals, as well as encrypted messaging apps and foreign SIM cards.

SRI’s warning coincides with the exposure of a sabotage ring coordinated by the Russian Federation that operated in Romania and across the EU, implicated in the blaze near the Carfil arms plant in Brașov. Two Belarusian citizens and one Ukrainian are under investigation for involvement, and additional Romanian sites are believed to have been targeted, though details remain undisclosed.