To Build a Fire:Inside Russia's Campaign of Sabotage in Europe
a day ago
- #sabotage
- #espionage
- #Ukraine-war
- A Ukrainian woman, Anna, was recruited by an old acquaintance to pick up a suspicious package in Vilnius, Lithuania, which turned out to contain detonators.
- Anna cooperated with Lithuanian counterterrorism police, leading to a sting operation where the package was tracked via GPS.
- The package was retrieved by Daniil Bardadim, a 17-year-old Ukrainian, who was arrested after being tracked by police.
- Bardadim admitted to committing arson and was on his way to Riga to carry out another attack.
- Bardadim and his friend Oleksandr were recruited by Serhiy Chaliy, a criminal figure linked to Russian intelligence, to carry out sabotage operations in Europe.
- Bardadim set fire to an IKEA store in Vilnius and was involved in the arson of a shopping center in Warsaw.
- European intelligence agencies identified a pattern of 'single-use agents'—individuals recruited for minor sabotage tasks to create chaos and fear.
- Russia's military intelligence agency, the G.R.U., is believed to be behind these operations, using proxies to maintain deniability.
- The operations aim to disrupt Western support for Ukraine, sow societal divisions, and test European security responses.
- Bardadim was sentenced to three years in prison in Lithuania, while Chaliy and other handlers remain at large.