ALBAWABA - Since Vladimir Putin’s belligerent and illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there has been a rise in inexplicable attacks on various armament facilities across Europe, Putin is responsible, Western intelligence sources say.
The attacks are planned carefully to be plausibly denied by Russia as to not trigger NATO’s article 5 mutual defense clause; Russia relies on recruiting local gang members to carry out the attacks.
Latvia detained three of its own nationals this week for an arson attack on Aug 15 against the Tallinn-based Milrem Robotics drone facility in neighboring Estonia which has been supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Estonia’s PM Kristen Michal said that the incident is under investigation to determine whether it can be proved that Russia was involved in the sabotage or not.
The attack fits into a broader pattern of suspected or confirmed sabotage against Ukraine’s military supply chains across NATO territory in what has become known as Russia’s “hybrid war.”
Alongside the Estonian incident, there have been similar incidents involving explosions at major arms manufacturers in Italy and Bulgaria recorded this month, while earlier this year, a fire at a Czech drone and thermal optic plant almost destroyed the entire structure – four suspects were detained.
Similarly, Lithuania also charged six people over an attempted arson attack against a factory supplying radio-wave scanners to Ukraine.
A NATO official said: “In recent years, Russia has accelerated its destabilization campaigns against Allies through cyber attacks, assassination attempts and acts of sabotage,” in what appears to be an attempt to escalate tensions between NATO allies and deter support for Ukraine.
