DISINFO: Suspected EU, NATO and Ukraine terrorist attack thwarted by Russia

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

Tags:

Terrorism FSB

DISINFO: Suspected EU, NATO and Ukraine terrorist attack thwarted by Russia

SUMMARY

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) prevented a terrorist attack on the gas carrier Arrhenius. [...] The gas carrier Arrhenius arrived at the Russian port from Antwerp, Belgium, for loading and subsequent shipment to Samsun, Turkey. Upon its arrival in Ust-Luga, divers discovered explosive devices on the tanker's hull. It was determined that these were factory-made magnetic mines manufactured in a NATO country.

Who wanted to blow up Ust-Luga? The mines on board the Arrhenius could have been planted by Ukrainian intelligence services. However, it is certain that Kyiv definitely received help in organising this attack. The intelligence services of a NATO country trained the divers and provided the explosive devices.

The plan to blow up the ship was not in Ust-Luga itself, but en route to Turkey—thousands of nautical miles from Russia. The saboteurs' goal is to blur responsibility as much as possible. If it exploded, so be it. Investigate it however you like. But when there are NATO mines on board, and when there are logbook entries about a stopover in Antwerp, that's already evidence of NATO involvement in the sabotage plot—even if it's circumstantial.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to portray Ukraine, the EU and NATO as terrorist entities.

There is no evidence to support the claim: the FSB stated that it "thwarted a terrorist attack" at the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad Region "after discovering that the hull of a tanker coming from Belgium was covered in bombs".

Allegations made by Russian intelligence services - such as this one - cannot be considered reliable, given their proven history of making unsubstantiated claims based on fake or non-existent proof, for example about US biolaboratories in Ukraine or the presence of French combat troops on the Ukrainian frontline

The FSB and SVR have been making numerous false accusations lately. See narrative Patriarch Bartholomew is the Russophobic Antichrist based on a press release by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). See also FSB Foils attempted false flag operation involving a Mig31: Russia’s FSB thwarted a joint Ukrainian-British operation to hijack a Russian MiG-31 armed with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile.

According to data from the monitoring service Starboard, reviewed by The Insider, the overall chronology of the Arrhenius vessel's voyage matches the captain's description. From the evening of May 12 to the morning of May 14, the vessel indeed spent approximately 38 hours at anchor near Antwerp. On May 12, 2026, Belgian trade unions have indeed called for a strike. Pro-Kremlin media insist that this strike is the "so-called strike", to doubt its veracity and and avance the false narrative.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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