Two workers - a 37-year-old Romanian and a 54-year-old Greek national - were arrested last week for allegedly sabotaging German naval vessels at Hamburg harbour during 2025. The methods were crude but potentially catastrophic: pouring more than 20kg of steel pellets into engine blocks, puncturing freshwater lines, removing fuel tank caps, and disabling fuses in onboard electronics.
The sabotage was discovered during pre-departure inspections for the corvette Emden, which was preparing for its maiden voyage to Kiel. Officials noted the damage "could have led to significant damage if left undetected" - naval-speak for "this ship might have sunk."
According to Greek court documents, the men also worked on the corvette Koeln in June 2025, where they "manually shut the control panel, cutting power off on the vessel and risking starting a fire."
Authorities conducted searches across multiple locations in Hamburg, Romania, and Greece. Germany's defense ministry declined immediate comment. A Hamburg prosecutor's spokesperson would not confirm whether investigators suspected Russian involvement.
That non-denial is telling. Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Europe has experienced a pattern of infrastructure sabotage: undersea cables cut in the Baltic, railway signal systems disrupted in Poland and Czechia, and now naval vessels tampered with in the heart of Germany's largest port.
This is hybrid warfare in its purest form - below the threshold of armed conflict but designed to degrade military readiness and sow paranoia. The Kremlin consistently denies such allegations, but the circumstantial pattern is hard to ignore.
What makes this incident particularly brazen is the target. These weren't supply vessels or aging frigates. These were modern corvettes, part of Germany's answer to Baltic security concerns. The saboteurs had physical access to the ships for months.
The arrests raise uncomfortable questions about security protocols at European military installations. If two contract painters can cripple a warship, what else has been compromised?
Brussels decides more than you think. But when it comes to hybrid threats, Europe is still learning to defend what it's already decided.
