Russian Intelligence Services Recruiting Ukrainian Refugees For Sabotage Operations In Europe Intelligence

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) said this in a statement seen by Ukrinform.

The FIS noted that a fire broke out near the Carfil SA defense plant in the Romanian city of Brasov in September this year. Romanian intelligence established that a network of agents directed by Russian intelligence services was behind the arson. The suspects include a Ukrainian national and two Belarusians.

The suspects were detained in the European Union, where they were allegedly preparing similar crimes.

"This case is just one element of a broad hybrid campaign that Russia is conducting across European countries, including through Ukrainians. Although millions of our fellow citizens who have fled the war are law-abiding, Moscow is trying to identify vulnerable people among them and recruit them as expendable assets for sabotage operations. This is why each such incident has such a high-profile impact, which is precisely what the Kremlin is counting on," the agency said.

According to the FIS, around 200 acts of sabotage linked to Russia have been recorded in Europe since 2022. Poland accounts for the largest share, at 21%. More than 170 perpetrators have been identified so far, including Ukrainian nationals. All leads point to Russia, although Moscow traditionally denies any involvement in setting up agent networks for hybrid operations on EU territory.

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According to the intelligence service, the Kremlin's main objectives are to intimidate Europeans and undermine military assistance to Ukraine. Poland, through which the bulk of this assistance is transported, has therefore become a primary target for Russian intelligence services. Its railway lines, warehouses, logistics hubs and defense industry facilities feature in most of the known cases.

The Kremlin is specifically seeking to use Ukrainians to impose a toxic image on refugees, fuel anti-Ukrainian sentiment and, above all, obscure the trail, the FIS said.

"Recruiting Ukrainians gives Moscow a 'plausible alibi': the perpetrator is not only unconnected to Russia but actually holds a Ukrainian passport," the agency said.

According to intelligence findings, Russian intelligence services target refugees in particularly vulnerable circumstances, including people with low incomes, those from temporarily occupied territories, individuals with criminal connections and teenagers seeking easy money.

Recruitment most often takes place through social media and messaging apps, particularly in job-search groups.

Once contact has been established, a Russian handler assigns simple tasks, such as photographing a facility or putting up stickers. The assignments then become more dangerous, progressing to surveillance of targets, property damage, arson and even bomb attacks. Those recruited are required to record their actions on video and send the footage to their handler as proof of completion.

Sometimes, those carrying out the assignments do not even realize whom they are working for. In many cases, they receive no payment at all after completing a task.

"Once an operation is completed, the operative has effectively committed a crime and becomes vulnerable to blackmail. What follows is a grim prospect: arrest and a lengthy prison sentence. Russia uses such people as 'torpedoes', providing them with neither protection nor assistance after they carry out sabotage operations," the FIS said.

Although these agent networks are eventually exposed and their operatives are often arrested fairly quickly, the intelligence service noted that the damage is already done. European security services are forced to divert resources to protecting facilities and tightening security. For Moscow, the cost-benefit ratio is quite favorable: spending a few hundred or thousand dollars on a saboteur in exchange for substantial damage and pressure on European societies.

The FIS stressed that it is actively countering this threat by regularly sharing intelligence with European counterparts, helping identify the methods and tactics used by Russian intelligence services, recruitment channels and potential sabotage targets.

The agency urged people to be wary of new contacts seeking personal information, offering easy money or promising to resolve urgent financial difficulties.

"One of the telltale signs that you may be communicating with an agent of an enemy intelligence service is a demand to keep the relationship confidential," the FIS said.

One effective way to avoid recruitment is to seek legal assistance from local law enforcement authorities or a Ukrainian diplomatic mission.

Photo: pexels

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