Russian citizen who plotted acts of diversion and sabotage in Romania placed under pre-trial arrest
The Bucharest Court of Appeal ordered on Tuesday the 30-day pre-trial arrest of a Russian citizen accused of attempted acts of diversion, a form of hybrid sabotage targeting military objectives.
The Russian national had been detained earlier in the day by the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) and brought before the court with a request for pre-trial arrest.
'From the evidence presented in the case, it resulted that, between February - July 2026, in anticipation of perpetrating diversion/sabotage acts of a hybrid nature, under the direct coordination of a person with whom he maintained contact through encrypted online messaging services, the suspect identified, monitored and collected military-related information. He also produced and transmitted photographs regarding Romanian/allied armed forces equipment and the movement of personnel and combat equipment at several Romanian and multinational military objectives (bases) located in the counties of Cluj, Constanta, Calarasi, Ilfov and the municipality of Bucharest, acts which, by their nature, endangered national security,' DIICOT said.
The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) announced that, in cooperation with DIICOT, the Interior Ministry's Organised Crime Combat Directorate, the Defence Ministry's Defence Intelligence Directorate General and external partner services, it prevented a sabotage action on Romanian soil involving a Russian citizen residing in the country.
According to SRI, beginning in February 2026, the Russian citizen had been under SRI monitoring as part of a broad investigation into attempted diversion acts, which included photo-video documentation of national and NATO-allied communications centres and military bases, headquarters of institutions within the National Defence, Public Order and National Security System, as well as critical infrastructure.
SRI added: 'The data obtained indicate an operational pattern similar to that used on the territory of European states by sabotage networks coordinated by entities from the Russian Federation, including in the cases thwarted in Romania in 2024 and 2025: the Russian citizen was instructed by a proxy to produce photo-video materials of strategic military objectives, including Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft during their presence on national territory. The investigation also revealed that the Russian Federation continues to use individuals from vulnerable categories to carry out such illegal activities.' AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Eusebi Manolache; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)
The content of the www.agerpres.ro website has the exclusive purpose of public informing.
All the information published on this website by AGERPRES is protected by relevant legal dispositions.
It is forbidden to copy, reproduce, recompile, decompile, distribute, publish, display, modify, create derived components or products or full services, as well as any exploitation of the site's content.
Details in the section Terms of Use. If you are interested in picking up AGERPRES news items, please contact the Marketing Department – marketing@agerpres.ro.
The use of the Comments section entails your obligation to respect the AGERPRES terms and conditions in regards to the publishing of comments on the www.agerpres.ro.
Other news in category
Romanian, French Foreign Ministers exchange views on Strategic Partnership, regional security environment
Foreign Minister Dan Neculaescu exchanged views with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot on Saturday, reaffirming the strength of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and France, as well as the strategic importance of the Black Sea. 'Applied exchange with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. We reaffirmed the strength of our Strategic Partner
MAI: Calls to protest - manipulation attempts; farmers' main demands - addressed
Calls urging sheep farmers to participate in protests are attempts at manipulation and do not serve their interests, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) said, mentioning that the first doses of vaccines for sheep and goats have already arrived in the country and that farmers' main demands have been addressed. The MAI clarifications come amid 'attemp
Romanian Foreign Minister Neculaescu, Turkish counterpart discuss Black Sea security
Attacks on commercial ships are unacceptable, and Romania and Türkiye will cooperate more for a stable and connected region, Romania's Foreign Affairs Minister Dan Neculaescu said on Saturday, in the context of a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. 'Good first conversation today with my Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.
PM Niculescu: Investing in people is one of this government's priorities
Investing in people is one of this government's priorities, Prime Minister Luca Niculescu believes, highlighting the important place Romanians living abroad have in this vision. 'I know that, for many of them, Romania means family, the language they grew up speaking, friends and memories. But it also raises a number of very practical questions: if I we
Incident at sea / Nine sailors rescued after vessel sinking brought to Port of Constanta
The nine sailors rescued from the water after the sinking of the 'Khoryv' vessel have been brought to the Port of Constanta aboard a rescue vessel and are being attended to by SMURD ambulance crews and border police officers. The sailors are undergoing medical assessments to determine whether they need to be taken to the County Emergency Clinical Hospi
CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS/Andreea Rasuceanu: Bucharest is an endless source of stories to explore in literature
Author Andreea Rasuceanu, one of Romania's contemporary prose writers whose work explores the relationship between literature, history and memory, has been awarded the Romanian Writers' Union's June 2026 Writer of the Month Award for her novel 'Hemiptera' (Polirom, 2026). In an interview with AGERPRES, the author discusses the award-winning book, her rese
Incident at sea/ForMin Neculaescu: Attack on a commercial vessel - blatant violation of international law
Foreign Affairs Minister Dan Neculaescu condemned the attack on a commercial vessel located just 13 nautical miles off the coast of Constanta, in which one sailor was killed and others were injured, underscoring that Romania is working closely with NATO allies, including Bulgaria and Türkiye, to boost the implementation of additional surveillance capabilities agreed at
'Giurgiu-Ruse. Superangular' exhibition opens at Regional Museum of History in Ruse
The exhibition 'Giurgiu-Ruse. Superangular - Vintage Photography and Photographic Technique', which includes vintage photographs, cameras and images from the library of the National News Agency AGERPRES, opened this week at the Regional Museum of History in Ruse, Bulgaria, after being launched in May at the Teohari Antonescu County Museum in Giurgiu. T
Incident at sea / Drone-hit vessel capsizes, with imminent risk of sinking
Structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) are participating on Friday in the search and rescue operation for people missing from a Comoros-flagged commercial vessel that was struck by a drone in the Black Sea, outside Romania's territorial waters. 'At around 10:00, border police officers from the Coast Guard were informed by the Constanta Ma
Major rescue operation offshore of Constanta for crew of vessel at risk of sinking; one dead
Authorities launched a search and rescue operation on Friday for the crew of a vessel reportedly at risk of sinking 13 nautical miles offshore from Constanta. One person has been found dead. According to the Romanian Naval Authority (ANR), a major search and rescue operation is currently under way in the Black Sea. The Maritime Coordination Cent
Constantin Brancusi celebrated in major exhibition at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York is hosting the retrospective exhibition 'Brancusi: The Artist and His Studio' from 25 October to 27 February 2027, dedicated to one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Organised with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in New York, the exhibition marks the continuation and st
'Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest' opens on Friday, in Bucharest; 'Fjord' - gala screening at Romanian Athenaeum on Saturday
The 17th edition of Les Films de Cannes a Bucarest, one of the highlights of the autumn film season, opens in Bucharest on Friday. Between October 23 and November 1, the Cinema Elvire Popesco, the Peasant Museum Cinema, the Auditorium Hall of the National Museum of Art of Romania and Apollo 111 will host this special experience for festival audiences.
EUR 2.5-million theme park dedicated to bears from all over the world to open at Sovata
The City Hall of Sovata will build a theme park dedicated to bear species around the globe, an investment estimated at EUR 2.5 million euros that will get European funding. 'Where did the idea come from? Lately we still have problems with bears, but not only us. And then I said that, anyway, if we have bears in Targu Mure, and in Cluj-Napoca, we have alway
PM Niculescu: I want us to establish an integrated plan to improve safety in schools very quickly
Prime Minister Luca Niculescu announced at the start of the Government meeting that an integrated plan would be drafted to improve safety in schools, with clear responsibilities, prevention measures, rapid intervention and firm sanctions for acts of violence. On Friday, the prime minister will hold a working meeting with ministers and the relevant institutions
'Romania and the Republic of Moldova. The Partnership for the EU' volume launched in Bucharest
The tenth volume in the Documentary Notebooks series, entitled 'Romania and the Republic of Moldova: The Partnership for the EU', coordinated by Andrei Stoian and Victor Vevera, was launched on Thursday by Club Romania Publishing at the 'Carol I' Central University Library, in the presence of several of the contributors. The book brings togethe