Lithuanian authorities announced the arrests of nine people accused of plotting murders and sabotage across Europe at the direction of Russia's military intelligence service, the G.R.U. The investigation began after Ruslan Gabbasov, an activist seeking independence for Russia's Bashkortostan region who had fled to Lithuania in 2021, discovered an Apple AirTag tracker hidden under his car's hood last spring.

The group set fire to military equipment in Bulgaria destined for Ukraine and conducted surveillance of Greek military installations. Among those arrested was a man with Greek and Russian citizenship captured outside Gabbasov's home in Lithuania, armed with a pistol. The network involved citizens from Greece, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova and Lithuania, with direct connections to the G.R.U.'s Main Intelligence Directorate.

The case exemplifies Russia's escalating sabotage campaign across Europe, which has moved from vandalism to bombings, arson and murder plots targeting Ukraine's supporters and anti-Putin exiles. Lithuania has also led the investigation into the DHL cargo plane incendiary plot, resulting in more than a dozen arrests. Gabbasov, sentenced in absentia to 14 years in prison by Russia in March, declined police protection and said the threat will only end when the Putin regime collapses.