A Russian national was detained in Romania on suspicion of planning acts of sabotage
A 40-year-old Russian citizen has been detained in Romania on suspicion of gathering intelligence to plan acts of sabotage. The man resides in Romania and has been under surveillance by the intelligence service since February 2026.
According to the Romanian Intelligence Service, from February through July, he photographed and videotaped military facilities and critical infrastructure. These included Romanian and allied military bases, communications centers, as well as routes used by military equipment and personnel.
The suspect took a particular interest in Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes. According to investigators, the man received instructions from a person with whom he communicated via encrypted messaging apps. The SRI believes that the collected data points to a scheme similar to the activities of sabotage networks coordinated from Russia.
On September 8, DIICOT prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for the Russian national. He is charged with attempting to carry out acts of sabotage. The investigation established that he gathered information at several Romanian and multinational military facilities in the counties of Cluj, Constanța, Călărași, Ilfov, and in Bucharest.
The prosecutor’s office plans to file a motion with the Bucharest Court of Appeals to remand the suspect in custody for 30 days.
Source: Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI)
On the morning of August 30, an air raid alert was declared in part of Tulcea County, Romania, due to an unidentified aerial target near the border with Ukraine. To monitor the situation, the Romanian military scrambled two F-16 fighter jets.
On the evening of Monday, August 24, Romania scrambled two F-18 fighter jets from the Spanish Air and Space Forces after detecting two aerial targets moving toward the Romanian border.
