Romania’s main intelligence agency on Tuesday said it had foiled a new sabotage operation orchestrated by Russia in Romania.
It said that two Ukrainians who entered Romania from Poland and who were under the direct coordination of representatives of the Russian secret services intended to set fire to a Bucharest office of NOVA POST, Ukraine’s largest private courier. Homemade explosive devices were found nearby.
The anti-terrorist prosecutors’ unit, DIICOT, said two men aged 21 and 24, were targeting a building on the ground floor of a block of flats, in Bucharest’s Sector 3. In the event of a fire, the blaze could easily spread to the surrounding buildings.
UPDATE: DIICOT specifies that the two Ukrainians, aged 21 and 24, were detained on October 16, and are being investigated for attempted diversion.
“Based on the evidence administered, it was established that the defendants entered the territory of Romania, and on 15.10.2025 they deposited at the headquarters of an international courier company, two parcels containing handmade devices, in order to destroy that building by arson,” the statement said.
“The location is located on the ground floor of a block of flats, located in the central area of Bucharest, Sector 3. In the event of a fire, it could easily spread to the surrounding buildings, thus creating a real danger to the lives of a very large number of people, as well as to the buildings and goods located in the area,” DIICOT said in a press release on Tuesday.
The Romanian intelligence agency, the SRI deployed pyrotechnic specialists to defuse the devices.
A Bucharest court ordered the two detained for 30 days pending an investigation.
INITIAL NEWS:
The Romanian Intelligence Service announced on Tuesday that, in cooperation with national and international partners, it foiled a new sabotage operation orchestrated by the Russian Federation on the territory of Romania
“The Romanian Intelligence Service, in cooperation with DIICOT, MAI-DCCO and MApN-DGIA, as well as with external partner services, prevented the commission of a new sabotage operation on Romanian national territory, with the involvement of two Ukrainian citizens who were under the direct coordination of representatives of the Russian secret services. Their purpose was the destruction by arson of a headquarters of the NOVA POST company in Bucharest”, SRI said in a press release.
The agency said it identified and monitored the two Ukrainian citizens from Oct 14-15 who:
- accessed the national territory from Poland to Bucharest;
- deposited at the NOVA POST headquarters in Bucharest two packages containing incendiary devices with remote initiation, handmade, concealed in headphones and car parts, respectively GPS location monitoring components.
The SRI said that “preliminary expertise reveals a complex modus operandi: the use of incendiary substances (termite and barium nitrate), their concealment with the possibility of initiating them remotely, respectively the adoption by the two Ukrainian citizens of self-protection measures specific to the intelligence services.”
“The data obtained confirms the affiliation of the two Ukrainian citizens to an extensive network of saboteurs targeting European countries, controlled by the Russian secret services.
“Their actions are part of the same operational pattern that targets the extensive infrastructure of NOVA POST – the largest Ukrainian private courier company. The specific actions taken by the SRI, as well as the measures ordered with the Romanian authorities and foreign partners, led to the prevention of a sabotage attempt on the national territory,” the statement said.
