As Russia steps up efforts to undermine Western aid to Ukraine, Europe is grappling with a sharp increase in sabotage attacks or plots led by Moscow. Poland, Britain, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Germany have been hit in recent months by arson or arson attacks that Western officials have linked to Russian intelligence.
US, NATO and German officials would not comment on the specifics of the assassination plot, but made it clear they are aligned with Russia’s growing efforts to destabilize the West and undermine support for Ukraine.
“Russia’s intensified campaign of sabotage is something we take extremely seriously and have been focused on over the past few months,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a comment. “The United States is discussing this issue with our NATO allies, and we are actively working together to expose and disrupt these activities. “We have also been clear that Russia’s actions will not deter allies from continuing to support Ukraine.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Newshound on Thursday that the efforts were clearly aimed at scaring Western countries into supporting Ukraine, but said the hybrid strikes were only meant to keep Western countries down. “A Russian operation organized by (Russian) security services to carry out hostile actions against NATO allies is a pattern,” he said. “These are not isolated incidents but part of a campaign.”
Russia’s campaign “is not going to change anything,” said another NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of sensitive issues. “NATO remains committed to supporting Ukraine.”
German law enforcement had already arrested two German-Russian men in April and charged them with espionage for plotting sabotage attacks on several US facilities in Bavaria, southern Germany. One of the most suspected, Russian-born Dieter Schmidt, was once seen taking photographs of a US military post in Grafenwöhr, where Ukrainian soldiers are trained to operate M1 Abrams tanks. Six Western security officials said Schmidt had discussed potential targets, including the Grafenwöhr military base, with a man linked to Russia’s military knowledge base over an encrypted messaging app.
Germany’s Interior Ministry declined to comment on the alleged plot against Papperger on Thursday, but said in a statement that the country’s counter-intelligence carrier had already foiled possible acts of sabotage aimed at military aid to Ukraine in April. Was able to do. “The German government will not allow itself to be intimidated by Russian threats,” it said.
The expulsion of several suspected Russian intelligence officers serving as diplomats shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was intended to reduce Moscow’s ability to conduct covert operations. However, increasingly, officials said, Moscow is operating through proxies, including through online recruitment.
Kremlin paperwork obtained through the ECU knowledge carrier and reviewed through the Washington Post has illustrated the breadth of Russia’s efforts to find potential recruits. The documents revealed that during July 2023, Kremlin political strategists studied the Facebook profiles of more than 1,200 people they believed to be employees at two major German plants in Ludwigshafen – Auribis and BASF. Were – so that those employees could be detected who could be induced to spread unrest.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Russia’s alleged involvement in the plot against Paparager. Earlier, he had denied that Russia was interested in increasing subversion activities in the Western region and told The Post that such claims were “nothing more than stoking Russophobic hysteria.”
Papperger’s Rhinemetall has been very powerful in Ukraine’s struggle against Russian invasion, offering the Kiev regime 155 mm artillery shells, army drones and tanks, and suddenly increasing production to meet Kiev’s growing demand. of. The reason for this is the opening of the rapid production of artillery shells in Western Ukraine.
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