Denmark says Russia prepared sabotage operations using recruits found online
Translated from Finnish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- Denmark’s security and intelligence service says Russian security services have planned and prepared sabotage operations against targets in Denmark.
- The suspected targets include defense-industry companies connected to military assistance for Ukraine, while ordinary Danes have allegedly been recruited online for seemingly routine tasks.
- Danish experts say the disclosure may signal to Russia that its activities are known and warn that the sabotage threat in Europe has become more acute.
Russia is not merely being warned against possible sabotage in Denmark. According to the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, preparations are already underway, and some operations may involve people who do not know who is behind their assignments.
PET counterintelligence chief Emil Græsholm told Berlingske that Russian security services have been preparing operations against targets in Denmark. Defense-industry companies linked to military assistance for Ukraine are of particular interest, Danish media Berlingske and DR reported.
This is not just a warning that this might one day extend to Denmark. We are seeing planning already. Very concretely.
The recruitment often takes place online, including through social media. Ordinary Danes may be offered tasks that appear harmless, such as photographing companies, facilities, transport shipments, gates or warehouses. “The task could, for example, be to take pictures or videos of companies or facilities. We assess that such images can be used to plan sabotage,” Græsholm told Berlingske.
The task could, for example, be to take pictures or videos of companies or facilities. We assess that such images can be used to plan sabotage.
PET urged Danes to report suspicious advertisements or assignments to police. Former senior analyst at Denmark’s military intelligence service FE, Jakob Kaarsbo, told DR that the interview could itself be a message to Moscow: “It could be an attempt to send the Russians a message that Denmark knows what they are doing.”
Flemming Splidsboel, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, said the threat of sabotage attacks had become more acute and that Europe should respond to planning and attempted operations across the continent. He also referred to events at Leipzig airport in August, when Germany accused Russia of attempting a drone attack targeting a Ukrainian cargo aircraft.
It could be an attempt to send the Russians a message that Denmark knows what they are doing.
About this summary
Originally published by Helsingin Sanomat in Finnish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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