Saboteur, possibly hired by Russians, arrested in Prague

Czech police arrested a suspect from South America accused of planning a terrorist attack, as reported by Czech media outlet Denik. The suspect, referred to only as “a migrant from South America,” had been sought since Friday and was tracked and found thanks to a video recording taken at a store in Prague.

Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan announced the arrest on social media, but deleted the post shortly afterwards. Although there are no specific details about the attack plan, the police strengthened security measures in crowded areas.

Now the police and intelligence are investigating an unprecedented case in the Czech Republic. Police arrested a saboteur on Saturday, suspected of planning to commit an attack on Czech territory. The security forces believe Russia may be behind the plot and hiring the suspect, local media reported.

On Friday, detectives from the Prague police’s first department called on the public to help them search for a man they suspected of a serious crime. A day earlier, he was supposed to have poured gasoline on buses in Prague 9, but they were not set on fire. The man fled the scene, and police started searching for him.

At the time, security forces were on high alert due to a series of mysterious fires and arson attacks on infrastructure in the Baltic States and Germany in recent months. That’s why Czech police were already investigating the possibility that this attempted arson attack could be another in a series of similar cases.

“If these cases weren’t happening across Europe now, no one would even have to be alert, and it would be on the level of a possible riot,” said a source close to the police. However, given the series of arson attacks in Europe, investigators wanted to find the man immediately.

They found him on Saturday. The suspect’s cell phone was among the first things investigators focused on. And it confirmed what they expected—the suspect was a member of a Telegram group in which users communicated about the arson attacks.

“It cannot be ruled out that this man did this only for money. He was instructed and could have tried to carry out this attack in Prague for money,” one of the sources told the newspaper. “But this is one of the versions that is now being investigated,” another source said.

According to preliminary information, Russian secret services hired the man through a special private channel on Telegram, as reported by the Czech media. That could be another case of Russian attempts to destabilize Europe, which have drastically increased since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian regime becomes more and more toxic for Europe with its clandestine KGB-like sabotage operations all across Western countries. It probably aims at undermining support for Ukraine, but instead shows that aid to Kyiv is important. If Russia defeats Ukraine, the EU nations will be more vulnerable to Russian sabotage.