Russia Forms Secret Military Unit for Sabotage in Europe and Beyond

Russia has established a new unit within its military intelligence service (GRU) to carry out covert operations in Europe and beyond, according to Western intelligence officials cited by The Wall Street Journal on February 15.

The Russian Department of Special Tasks (SSD) is based at the GRU headquarters in Moscow. Its operations, which had not been publicly reported before, include assassination attempts, sabotage, and efforts to place incendiary devices on aircraft.

Western intelligence officials state that the SSD was created in 2023 in response to Western support for Ukraine. The Kremlin views the West as complicit in attacks on Russian territory, including the alleged sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which Ukraine has denied involvement in, targeted killings of officials in Moscow, and Ukrainian strikes using Western-supplied long-range missiles.

The SSD has assumed responsibilities previously held by other Russian intelligence units, including Unit 29155,  which Western officials link to the 2018 poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK.

The department’s main objectives include conducting assassinations and sabotage operations abroad, infiltrating Western institutions, and recruiting foreign agents, particularly from Ukraine, developing nations, and states perceived as friendly to Russia, such as Serbia. It also oversees Senezh, an elite special operations center used to train Russian forces.

Russian Colonel General Andrey Averyanov and his deputy, Russian Lieutenant General Ivan Kasianenko, lead the SSD. Averyanov, a veteran of Russia’s Chechen wars, is wanted by Czech authorities for his alleged role in a 2014 ammunition depot explosion that killed two people. He was awarded Russia’s highest honor, the Hero of Russia medal, following his involvement in the annexation of Crimea.

Kasianenko, born in Kazakhstan in 1975, previously worked under diplomatic cover in Tehran and has facilitated military cooperation between Russia and Iran. He has been linked to the Skripal poisoning and the takeover of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC’s) operations in Africa after the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The SSD has been implicated in multiple covert operations, including an attempt to assassinate the CEO of a major German arms manufacturer and efforts to smuggle incendiary devices onto DHL cargo planes.

The European Union and the United States have sanctioned SSD operatives, accusing them of orchestrating assassinations, cyberattacks, and acts of sabotage.

The SSD is believed to have targeted German defense firms and coordinated arson attacks, including a fire at a Berlin weapons factory supplying arms to Ukraine.

Western security officials warn that Russia’s covert actions indicate a broader strategic campaign against NATO and its allies. Some have called for increased counterintelligence efforts and clandestine operations to counter the SSD’s activities.

NATO official James Appathurai has stated that the West must adopt a wartime mindset “across society” to address the growing Russian threat.

Earlier, Denmark’s Defense Intelligence Agency (FE) warned that if the Ukraine war ends or stalls and NATO fails to act, Russia could be ready for a large-scale war in Europe within five years.