Russian sabotage campaign causes chaos across Europe

A British man has been charged over an arson plot targeting a Ukrainian business after allegedly being recruited by a Russian spy – and establishing links with the mercenary Wagner group.

- KEIR GILES

The suspect, Dylan Earl, will face trial under the new National Security Act, the first case under the new legislation to crack down on foreign spies. Four other men have also been charged in connection with the plot.

But the case should not be seen as an isolated incident. There is a much broader, and more serious, Russian campaign of sabotage spanning the whole of Europe. And more disturbingly, the patterns of behaviour match predictions of what Russia would attempt to do in advance of open conflict with Nato.

It seems there are few parts of Europe not targets. Earlier in April, Germany arrested two individuals on suspicion of planning attacks on behalf of Russia, with a range of targets including US military bases. In Lithuania, Moscow has used organised criminal networks to arrange physical attacks on Russian opposition figures.

Swedish security police are investigating if possible sabotage could be behind a number of railway derailments in the far north of the country, while the Estonian security services have logged intensified Russian efforts to recruit local citizens to attack their own government.

Poland, which has key routes for getting supplies into Ukraine, has been targeted more frequently. Earlier this month, Polish authorities arrested a man reconnoitring security arrangements at the important Rzeszow airport, apparently with the intention of aiding an assassination attempt on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Last year, the country’s train network was targeted by unauthorised radio signals in an act of apparent sabotage.