Sabotage at weapons factories on the rise in Europe - media
There has been a surge in incidents of sabotage at arms and defense factories in several European countries. The Telegraph, citing intelligence sources, reported that Russia may be recruiting members of local criminal groups to carry out such attacks. Moscow is also testing possible NATO responses.
**The number of sabotage attacks on arms factories in Europe is increasing - media report**
On August 23, the British newspaper The Telegraph published an article about sabotage attacks on defense industry enterprises across Europe. According to representatives of the special services interviewed by the publication, these attacks may be planned to such an extent that they will not trigger Article 5 of the NATO treaty. This article provides for the assessment of an armed attack on one of the alliance members as an attack on all members.
The Telegraph drew attention to several recent incidents at defense industry facilities in European countries:
* **Estonia:** Three people were detained on suspicion of deliberately setting fire to the building of the Milrem Robotics defense company in Tallinn on August 15. Two of them were arrested. Milrem Robotics supplies unmanned ground vehicles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
* **Italy and Bulgaria:** Explosions at major arms factories were reported in August.
* **Czech Republic:** A major fire broke out this year at a factory that produces drones and thermal imaging optics for Ukraine. The fire almost completely destroyed the enterprise, and four people were arrested in connection with the incident.
According to The Telegraph, evidence that would allow directly linking such incidents to Moscow is rarely left behind. According to the publication, officers of the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff may establish contacts with criminal groups in European countries and use some of their members as intermediaries.
It is said that messengers such as Telegram are used to establish contact and deliver tasks, and those who carry out tasks are paid in cryptocurrency. According to the newspaper, some of the executors may not even know who is behind the task.
The publication wrote that Moscow may be trying to cause discord among NATO allies and test the alliance's possible response through such actions. According to The Telegraph, some European countries, such as Italy and Germany, are cautious about linking the events to Russia, given the risk of escalation. The publication notes that this situation may allow Moscow to study under what circumstances and to what extent NATO will respond.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has previously warned Russia against such sabotage actions, calling them "irresponsible and dangerous." He stressed that the alliance's response to such threats must be clear, swift and decisive.
At the moment, there is no information whether the claims cited by The Telegraph have been confirmed by Russia.