The Fire Next to the Arms Factory in Brașov Was Sabotage, Bucharest Says: The Network Was Run by Moscow and the Suspects Lived in the EU

The fire that broke out on 14 September at the Carfil industrial complex in the Romanian city of Brașov was no accident. That, at least, is what Romania's intelligence service SRI says: on 26 October it announced that a Russian-run sabotage network was behind it. The blaze broke out right next to the plant of Carfil SA, a subsidiary of the Romanian state defence company Romarm, and spread to buildings belonging to several businesses.

According to the Romanian authorities, the incident wasn't isolated but part of a much wider operation targeting Europe's defence industry. Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said three suspects are under investigation - two Belarusian nationals and one Ukrainian national - who had been staying in EU countries. Yes, a Ukrainian, in a network that, according to Bucharest, was coordinated by Moscow. This war stopped being fought only in uniform a long time ago.

Two of the suspects were located and arrested in Germany, where, according to prosecutors, they were preparing similar acts of sabotage. For the third, located in Poland, a European arrest warrant was issued on 26 October. The Romanian authorities are working on their extradition so the case can proceed.

The list of targets is what should worry people most. The SRI says coordinators in Russia picked targets across Europe - state and private arms factories, military facilities and other industrial complexes of strategic importance. Romanian intelligence says it uncovered other attempted acts of sabotage in the country this year, including attacks planned on international military facilities and sites where members of the Ukrainian armed forces are trained. The aim, according to the SRI's assessment, is to intimidate European states, weaken their defences and obstruct military support for Ukraine.

Romanian Foreign Minister Dan Neculescu said the Brașov fire is part of a wider sabotage campaign against the defence industry across Europe. "Hybrid attacks will not stop us from strengthening our resilience and defence," he wrote on X. Russia has so far rejected Western accusations that it organises sabotage operations on their territory.

There's a detail that's easy to miss. Carfil, next to whose plant the fire broke out, recently signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Greek company Altus LSA. The agreement covers the development of autonomous systems and counter-drone technologies, as well as cooperation on producing ammunition for anti-drone systems and joint testing of new military technologies. Is it a coincidence that the fire broke out right next to a plant that had just entered Europe's anti-drone story - with a partner from Greece, Macedonia's southern neighbour?

Romania borders Serbia and Bulgaria, and Macedonia, like Romania, is a NATO member. If networks like this pick targets across Europe, how sure can we be that the Balkans aren't on their map? And how many "accidents" at factories and ammunition depots in the region has anyone ever investigated this thoroughly?

The Romanian authorities are continuing the investigation together with security services in other European countries, and prosecutors are checking whether the suspects are also linked to planned attacks on other defence-industry sites. This time Bucharest says it has names and arrests. Whether that holds up in court, the extradition will show.