MUNICH — When a man was spotted taking photos last October of a U.S. military garrison in a Bavarian town where Ukrainian troops are trained to operate the M1 Abrams tank, it triggered an investigation that led to the first evidence Russia was planning sabotage attacks in Germany, security officials said.
Washington
Russia recruits sympathizers online for sabotage in Europe, officials say
The suspect, a German citizen born in Russia, was discussing over an encrypted messaging app potential targets in Germany — including on the U.S. facility in the town of Grafenwoehr — with an individual with ties to Russia’s military intelligence service, according to six Western security officials.
Dieter Schmidt, 39, and an alleged co-conspirator were charged with espionage in April, the first arrests in Germany of alleged saboteurs working for Moscow. Europe has in the months since been grappling with a rapid increase in Moscow-led sabotage attacks or plots as Russia turns its focus to increasing the cost of Western support for Ukraine.
“Russia is fighting the West in the West, on Western territory,” said a senior NATO official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive material. “Our focus is really sharpening on this.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “virtually every ally” at a NATO meeting in Prague last month raised the issue of “the Kremlin … intensifying its hybrid attacks against front-line states, NATO members, setting fire and sabotaging supply warehouses, disregarding sea borders and demarcations in the Baltics, mounting more and more cyberattacks, continuing to spread disinformation.”
The question of how far Moscow will escalate its efforts and how the West should respond will consume part of this week’s NATO summit in Washington. Western officials say the Russian operations they detected seem designed to stay below the threshold of an open armed attack while stirring public unease, and their numbers are growing.
In Britain, four men were charged in April with carrying out an arson attack on a London warehouse containing aid for Ukraine; authorities said the attack was paid for by Russian intelligence. At the beginning of May, a fire broke out at the Diehl weapons factory just outside Berlin — and investigators said they are examining a possible link to Russian intelligence. In Poland, also in May, an arson attack burned down a mall outside Warsaw and soon after Polish police arrested nine men, alleging they were part of a Russian ring involved in “beatings, arson and attempted arson,” including an arson attack at a paint factory in Wroclaw and at an Ikea store in Lithuania.
In June, French police arrested a Russian-Ukrainian dual national for allegedly planning a violent act after materials intended to build explosive devices were found at his hotel room outside Paris following an apparently accidental explosion in his room. The Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said a Latin American man accused of an attempted arson attack on a bus depot in Prague last month was “probably” financed and hired by Russian operatives.
A trove of Kremlin documents obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post illustrate the breadth of Russia’s efforts to identify potential recruits.
The documents show that in July 2023, Kremlin political strategists studied the Facebook profiles of more than 1,200 people they believed were workers at two major German plants — Aurubis and BASF in Ludwigshafen — to identify employees who could be manipulated into stirring unrest.
The strategists drew up excel spreadsheets analyzing the profiles of every worker, highlighting posts that demonstrated the employees’ anti-government, anti-immigration or anti-Ukrainian views.
At the BASF chemical plant, special attention was paid to the workers’ attitudes toward the closure of several facilities at the plant in spring 2023 because of soaring production costs, including natural gas price hikes, which led to the loss of 2,600 jobs. At the Aurubis metals plant, the strategists noted anti-immigrant views in the posts of some of the workers, one of the documents shows.
“We can concentrate on inciting ethnic hatred,” one of the strategists wrote. “Or on organizing strikes over social benefits.”
German officials said they were unaware of any incidents at BASF or Aurubis that could be tied to Russia, but added they took the Kremlin activities very seriously and believe they illustrate how Moscow is using social media to recruit operatives.
Daniela Rechenberger, a spokesperson for BASF, declined to discuss any workers but said the company is “constantly strengthening its capabilities to prevent, detect and respond to security risks.”
Christoph Tesch, a spokesperson for Aurubis said, “We have no evidence of this — nor are we aware of any social unrest in the company.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told The Post that the allegations of Russian sabotage activity were “no more than a stoking of Russophobic hysteria.”
“All these suppositions and allegations are not based on anything,” he said, adding that the authenticity of what was claimed was “more than doubtful.”
The expulsion of hundreds of suspected Russian intelligence officers serving under official cover as diplomats immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was aimed at curbing Moscow’s ability to conduct covert operations. But increasingly, officials said, Moscow is working through proxies including those it recruits online.
“The way that we tried to react was the way that we would have acted during the Cold War. But it is not the way that Russia operates right now,” said Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s foreign minister, in an interview. “Social media alone provides a lot of opportunities to find people who would assist them in their activities. So you might not need to even have a handler in NATO countries if you can do it online.”
While operating through social media presents a greater risk of detection, Moscow seems willing to cast an indiscriminate net in its search for allies. Communications through encrypted apps and a seemingly random target set add to the challenges in uncovering Russian operations, officials said.
“It is extremely decentralized,” said Landsbergis. “It could be refugees, people who are down on their luck. It could be criminals, basically, anybody who thinks that earning a couple thousand euros [committing sabotage for Russia] is a good idea and maybe the risk is not too high.”
Russia may also believe outsourcing such operations offers it a degree of deniability while still maximizing the potential for creating chaos, officials said. “They do what is possible,” one senior European security official said.
One Russian academic with close ties to senior Russian diplomats insisted it was not possible to connect Moscow to all of the incidents cited by Western security officials. “But if this conflict continues, then each side will turn more and more to such distorted methods of battle,” he added.
Schmidt, the man arrested for casing the U.S. military facility in Germany, had posted on Facebook about his exploits fighting with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2016. His deployment appears to be a successful case of identifying potential ideological allies, German security officials said. Law enforcement officials said they are still investigating whether Schmidt received any financial compensation for his efforts.
Schmidt, who has both German and Russian citizenship and moved to Germany as a teenager, was also tasked with finding others within the German-Russian community in Bayreuth, his hometown in Bavaria, who could assist with the sabotage mission, investigators said.
One such recruit was Alexander Jungblut, another Russian-born German, who was arrested in April alongside Schmidt and also charged with espionage.
“Jungblut mainly did internet research and supported Schmidt,” a German security official said, including gathering information on an American company with branches in Bavaria.
Attorneys for Schmidt and Jungblut did not respond to requests for comment.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in June that alliance defense ministers had agreed to increased intelligence exchange, enhanced protection of critical infrastructure and further restrictions on Russian intelligence operatives to curb Moscow’s operations.
But Lithuania’s Landsbergis said a much greater effort was required. “It doesn’t look from our perspective that Russia is specifically avoiding casualties,” Landsbergis said. “It is just a coincidence there haven’t been any yet. We will need to have a reaction … When Russia is escalating into our territory, the best way to react is to allow Ukraine to escalate back.”
Belton reported from London and Rauhala from Brussels. Cate Brown in Washington and Ellen Francis in Brussels contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (7News) — The U.S. Department of the Interior officially marked the completion of the George Washington Memorial Parkway’s North Section Rehabilitation project on Monday.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum joined National Park Service leaders for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the wrap-up of the massive $167 million infrastructure overhaul.
The project, funded through President Donald Trump’s Great American Outdoors Act, represents the first major, comprehensive rehabilitation of the parkway’s northern stretch since it originally opened to traffic in 1962.
SEE ALSO | Trump rejects ‘paint job’ criticism of Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation
According to officials, crews focused on balancing modern safety upgrades with the preservation of the roadway’s distinct historic aesthetic:
- Roadway & safety improvements: Complete pavement reconstruction, upgraded roadside infrastructure and enhanced safety barriers
- Structural reinforcements: Extensive rehabilitation of the parkway’s historic stone walls, arched bridges and deep-drainage systems to handle heavy runoff and prevent erosion
- Scenic restoration: Revamped overlooks and cleared vistas, restoring classic, unobstructed views of the Potomac River and D.C. skyline
“This parkway belongs to the American people,” Burgum said. “We have returned it to the American people safer, stronger and more beautiful for generations to come.”
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The North Section of the parkway had gone over six decades without a top-to-bottom renewal, leading to deteriorating pavement and aging drainage systems.
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Much of Western Washington University’s queer community gathered on campus Thursday, June 4 to celebrate the institution’s third annual Lavender Graduation.
The 2025 ceremony was canceled due to a strike by the university’s operational student employees following more than a year of failed negotiations with WWU. This year, though, about 60 graduates walked the stage inside Viking Union
. Multiple keynote and student speakers took to the podium to congratulate the university’s outgoing students on reaching an academic milestone, and touted the importance of community building during a time when shifts in the country’s social and political fabric have negatively affected minority communities.
Still, the ceremony was filled with joy as those same speakers recounted how the friends and family they’d fostered on campus changed their lives for the better. During the event, four Western Washington University graduates took the time to speak with Cascadia Daily News and reflect on their growth while in school.
Their responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Juleyana Cabrera
What did you learn outside of the classroom during your time at WWU?
I think it’s more like another thing I just kind of survived. I’ve lived a really rough life, and I’m the first generation in my family to graduate from any college. So there’s a lot of pressure, but there is also the knowledge within myself that I’ll probably be okay no matter what happens after this. I learned a lot on campus about myself and how I adapt to things.
What does queerness mean to you?
Queerness means to me, it means community, it means family, it means the thing that saved my life. I’m just kind of more grateful than anything. My first ex-girlfriend is the whole reason I moved to town. Rest in peace, she’s not with us anymore, but I don’t know where I’d be without my queer fam.
Did you find WWU to be a welcoming space for you?
There are certain pockets that are OK but there are certain teachers that were straight-up transphobic that I absolutely hate.
Do you have any words of advice for queer students who are about to start the next step of their education at WWU?
Remember to get full sleep. Don’t forget to stay hydrated. Avoid the drama if you can avoid it. Figure out what works best for you and keeps you safe and sane, because keeping yourself safe and sane while navigating all of this is the most important thing.
Joshua Riley
What did you learn outside of the classroom during your time at WWU?
Even as you build community with people, you have to put yourself first. I think that’s the biggest step in building community. When you put yourself first, you can be your most authentic form, and I think that that’s really helped me accept who I am and be happy with who I am.
Do you have any words of advice for queer students who are about to start the next step of their education at WWU?
Go to all of the events you can, talk to all the people you can. Showing up really is the best thing you can do. It helped me get integrated and find my people a lot faster. The events are great and they’re there for you. You should attend them.
Did you find WWU to be a welcoming space for you?
Yes, Western was very welcoming. They talked a little bit about intersectionality (during Lavender Graduation), and my experience as a queer person has been really great. My experience as a person of color has been less great. So that comes together in ways that are sometimes not great and then sometimes really great because you get spaces like Black LGBTQ+ Thriving as well.
I would say ultimately yes, especially as a queer person. Even as I talk about the struggles of being a person of color in these predominantly white spaces, I have been more accepted here than a lot of the white spaces I have been in prior.
What does queerness mean to you?
It means accepting alternate truths and realities, I suppose. There is a heteronormative standard set in place, and when you break that, you accept queerness. To me, that means having pride and joy in the person that you are, no matter who you are and what you bring to the table. Like I said, you kind of put yourself first and learn yourself and love yourself.
Casper Suter
What did you learn outside of the classroom during your time at WWU?
I learned a lot about community. I spent the three-and-a-half years that I was here as a part of the drag campus club on campus. I was a part of it from the day it started. Prior to that, I didn’t have a whole lot of friends or even people within the queer community that I knew at home, so I learned a lot about other people and how they fit into the community and how we all interact together.
What does queerness mean to you?
Being yourself, even through adversity. When I first came to Western, I presented myself very differently than I do now because I felt like it was how I had to be in order to be valid in my identity, and now I feel a lot more comfortable in both my identity and also how I present, regardless of how they overlap.
Do you have any words of advice for queer students who are about to start the next step of their education at WWU?
Find your people. One of my best friends is someone I met the day I moved into the dorms and we’ve stuck together ever since. I know people who went through all of college without really knowing anyone in their community. It took me until my third year to meet other people in my major, so just like finding your people and having people around you so you’re not alone.
Gabriel Diaz-Kelly
What did you learn outside of the classroom during your time at WWU?
I think Western really taught me to listen to people. I came in thinking that I was the only person with my experience. When I came into college, I thought that I knew the most about everything and that no one else could relate to me, and this made me special in a lot of ways. I learned that uniqueness doesn’t really come necessarily from the identities that I hold, but the experiences that I get to share with people.
I was really lucky to be able to find such wonderful queer friendships here. Queer professors, queer mentors and even just in general, college has really forced me to take uncomfortability and turn it into lessons and education.
Did you find WWU to be a welcoming space for you?
I came out as trans super, super young, when I was 13, which is younger than most people my age. One of the main reasons I picked Western is because of their gender-neutral housing. I remember very specifically a call that we gave to Western when I was going through universities calling and asking, “Hey, what is it like to find a dorm when you’re trans,” and they had all of these systems already in place, and I remember me and my mom in the car together becuase she was so worried that her kid wasn’t going to be safe in college.
But I did find a lot of gaps. It wasn’t necessarily because people weren’t working hard enough; it’s just that there weren’t enough people or positions. So it was very easy for me to find a community and support network when it came to my personal life, but when it came to the broader structures of Western, there was kind of a gap that I was lucky enough to fill when I was working as the advocacy and education co-coordinator (for LGBTQ+ Western).
I am leaving this with the full knowledge that my co-coordinator, my other employees, my supervisors have my back 100% of the way, and they’re going to have the next person’s back.
Do you have any words of advice for queer students who are about to start the next step of their education at WWU?
Shut up and listen. I love to talk, I love to get to know people, but you really have to just be on the sidelines to get to know people. Be the dumb person in class, ask the questions, don’t wait for someone to tell you what you’re supposed to know.
Take every opportunity, look up every resource. We have 1,001 resources here at Western. Most students don’t know that we have free audio editing and sewing machines, and we take students out to Mount Baker and we have gender-affirming resources. Say hi to everyone you can say hi to and talk to the people that you don’t think you’d like, because chances are you’re probably going to like them at least a little bit.
What does queerness mean to you?
I think queerness is a way for me to show other people that I want to love them in a very kind way. If I’m alone, I don’t think of myself as queer and trans; those are labels I give to the outside world so that they get some glimpse into what I am.
I don’t need anyone to tell me that I’m valid, I don’t need anyone to tell me that I’m enough because I know that, I’m very secure in that. So what I have in the label “queer” is a billboard to everyone else that says, “I want to love you back. I want to talk to you, I want to get to know you.”
Santiago Ochoa is a CDN visual journalist; reach him at santiagoochoa@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 105.
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