Romania Seeks Three Suspects in Alleged Russian Sabotage Near Arms Plant

Romanian prosecutors are seeking the return of three suspects from Germany and Poland after an industrial fire that Romania’s intelligence service attributes to a sabotage network coordinated from Russia.

The blaze broke out on September 14 at the Carfil industrial platform in Brașov, immediately beside CARFIL SA, a subsidiary of state arms group ROMARM, according to the Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI. The agency’s account places the fire near the weapons company; it does not say the arms factory itself burned.

Two Belarusian suspects were apprehended in Germany, Reuters reported on October 26. Prosecutors are also seeking the return of a Ukrainian suspect from Poland. All three are suspected of involvement in the arson case. The allegations have not been proved in court.

SRI said on October 26 that the network’s assignments extended beyond Romania to state and private weapons-production facilities and other military and industrial targets in the region. Its statement did not identify the Russian coordinators or publish the underlying evidence for that attribution.

The agency paired the announcement with a warning about recruitment through social media: small payments for watching or photographing a site can lead to demands for arson or other violence, followed by pressure or blackmail if a recruit refuses. That describes a broader pattern SRI says it sees, rather than a disclosed account of how these three suspects were recruited.

Russia’s embassy in Bucharest could not immediately be reached outside business hours, Reuters reported. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations of sabotage. SRI says it is continuing checks with organised-crime prosecutors, Romanian defence intelligence and the Interior Ministry.