Romania says a Russia-coordinated sabotage network set a fire near a weapons factory in Brasov

Romanian authorities say a network coordinated by Russia was responsible for a fire in September at an industrial site near a state-owned weapons factory. Romania's Intelligence Service announced the finding on Monday.

The intelligence service said the blaze in the central city of Brasov on September 14 was part of a wider campaign of sabotage operations coordinated by Russia amid its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In its statement, the agency said the operations were aimed at arms manufacturers and other targets of military and industrial interest. It said the actions were intended to intimidate, undermine defence capabilities and weaken the targeted states' contribution to European and regional security.

Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism, known as DIICOT, said three people had been involved in the Brasov fire — two Belarusians and a Ukrainian, all living in European Union countries.

DIICOT said two of those people were tracked down and remanded in custody in Germany while they were preparing to commit similar offenses.

According to Romania's Intelligence Service, recruits for such networks are often found on social media and are first offered money for a seemingly harmless task, such as observing or photographing certain targets.

The service said that over time, the tasks become increasingly serious, potentially involving acts of vandalism, arson or even murder.

Romania, a member of the EU and NATO, shares a border of more than 600 kilometres with Ukraine. Its centrist president, Nicusor Dan, has said the country is a target of a hybrid war Russia is waging to destabilise nations backing Kyiv, citing drone incursions into Romanian airspace, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns and sabotage.

Foreign Minister Dan Neculaescu said the fire in Brasov was part of a broader campaign of sabotage across Europe targeting military production. He wrote on X that hybrid attacks will not hold the country back from strengthening its resilience and defense.

The accusation follows a string of incidents at defence sites across Europe in recent weeks. In September, explosions and a fire erupted at an ammunition storage site in Bulgaria, weeks after a blaze at another munitions facility in the country. Both sites are operated by the Bulgarian arms maker EMCO, whose munitions are used in Ukraine.

That same month, firebombs were thrown near the offices of a defence company in Munich, and Romanian authorities said they had detained a Russian citizen accused of filming and photographing military sites in preparation for sabotage. In August, a blast struck an ammunition factory near Rome in Italy operated by the arms maker KNDS.

At sea, at least eight cargo ships have been hit off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria over the past three weeks, and about 34 sailors have been reported dead or missing. President Dan called the attacks on ships in Romanian waters a new example of the tragic consequences of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

A year ago, Poland and Romania also detained eight people suspected of taking part in a Russian plot to send exploding parcels to Ukraine. There was no immediate comment from Russia on Romania's latest claim, and Moscow has previously repeatedly denied such accusations.