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Three suspects allegedly surveilled the Carfil factory before the fire

Riana Gegiu

28 October 2026, 13:15

Current Affairs

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The investigation into the fire that broke out at the Carfil arms factory in Brașov identified three foreign suspects, whom the authorities say may have acted as part of a sabotage operation attributed to Russia. Two of the men are citizens of Belarus, while the third is Ukrainian. They allegedly arrived in Brașov several days before the fire and changed accommodations several times.

According to information presented by Antena 3 CNN, the suspects allegedly surveilled the factory and determined the details of the operation two days before the fire broke out. Subsequently, the three were captured in Germany and Poland, where investigators claim they were also preparing other acts of sabotage. The Romanian authorities are trying to bring them back to the country.

The investigation involved more than 70 police officers and included the analysis of dozens of hours of video recordings. The inquiries were coordinated by the case prosecutor, and the data obtained were corroborated to identify the alleged perpetrators.

Following the accusations, Russia's ambassador to Bucharest was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vladimir Lipaev rejected the accusations, calling them unfounded.

In this context, Kelemen Hunor called for additional measures to protect strategic infrastructure, including the Neptun Deep platform.

Context: CARFIL had received warnings about sabotage, while authorities described the incident as part of a possible campaign

Prior to the fire on September 14, the management of the CARFIL Brașov arms factory said it had received warnings as early as spring about possible acts of sabotage targeting the defense industry, information that was reiterated during the summer. General Manager Mircea Tanțău added that security measures had been intensified starting in March and, additionally, in August, and that when the fire was detected around 03:00, it had been extinguished by the time he arrived at the factory, at approximately 06:30.

After the incident, Tanțău stated that he initially believed the fire had been started in revenge by someone familiar with the area, but later, in the context of the warnings and the investigation, he considered that it might have been an act of intimidation and a form of pressure on the management of CARFIL and ROMARM.

Meanwhile, AUR condemned Russia's involvement and requested explanations regarding any potential breaches and concrete preventive measures, while Nicușor Dan spoke of acts of sabotage as part of a coordinated campaign.