August 23, 2026
Russia has launched a new covert sabotage campaign against European defense plants, recruiting local criminal groups to carry out arson and bombings, testing how far it can go without provoking a NATO response.
This is reported by The Telegraph , citing Western intelligence sources .
According to the publication, each attack is carefully calculated so as not to cross the line that triggers Article 5 — NATO’s collective defense. This week, Latvia detained three of its own citizens on suspicion of arson at a Milrem Robotics drone factory in neighboring Estonia — one of two foreign suppliers of ground-based drones to Ukraine.
Similar “accidental” fires and explosions have already struck defense plants in Italy and Bulgaria this month, and earlier this year at a Czech factory that makes drones and thermal imaging cameras for the Ukrainian army. Italian and Bulgarian authorities are trying to downplay Russia’s possible involvement, although Moscow, as The Telegraph notes, almost never leaves evidence that would directly link attacks to the Kremlin.
The main reason for this scheme is disguise. These tasks are no longer carried out directly by the GRU, but by criminal groups. The head of the Latvian security service, Normunds Mežviets, explained to the publication the logic of this approach: GRU officers no longer physically visit the target countries, but remain “in Russia, where it is safe.” Instead, they recruit intermediaries in criminal groups via Telegram, and they then distribute specific tasks to executors, who are paid in cryptocurrency — and who often do not even realize who they are actually working for.
According to the publication, the covert nature of the attacks is a deliberate strategy by the Kremlin, designed to create division within NATO: the eastern countries of the Alliance are speaking out about Russia’s involvement much more loudly than the western countries, which avoid direct accusations, fearing escalation.
That is why each unpunished attack gives Moscow new evidence about the limits of NATO’s patience – and, according to Western officials, may be a preparation for Putin preparing Russia to use force against the Alliance “within five years.”
A series of sabotage attacks on factories supplying weapons to Ukraine
We will remind, on March 20, 2026, in the Czech city of Pardubice, the joint Ukrainian-Czech enterprise Archer, which produces thermal imagers for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was set on fire – the fire destroyed a large part of the production facilities, and the unknown organization “Earthquake Faction” claimed responsibility.
On August 10, 2026, a truck caught fire at the EMCO ammunition factory near Tryavna, Bulgaria , and the fire spread to the warehouse, where the ammunition began to detonate.
Within a few days, a powerful explosion and fire occurred at the KNDS Ammo Italy factory in Colleferro near Rome — the prosecutor’s office did not immediately rule out arson.
“…testing how far it can go without provoking a NATO response.”
NATO has turned the other cheek so many times; both are red as tomatoes and swollen like pregnant pot-bellied pigs.
The West must start doing something against these incessant hybrid attacks. I don’t mean to just step up defensive measures, but to act in an eye-for-an-eye manner. For every attack on a Western country they commit, Ukraine gets fifty Taurus missiles, or a battalion of troops, for example, or send agents into mafia land to commit sabotage there and kill high-ranking cockroaches. Doing nothing only provokes more and worse attacks.
Better still, treat these gangs as terrorists and shoot them like dogs. The message will soon get around the criminal underworld.
Also a good idea. And shoot their money giver.
If all these Embassies were closed, the incidents would stop immediately. They are nothing but terrorist HQ’s.