'CIA behind spate of explosions in Russia', US veteran claims
‘CIA is behind spate of explosions in Russia’: US Army Special Ops veteran claims intelligence agency and NATO ally are conducting sabotage missions
- The CIA is working with an unnamed ‘NATO ally’, according to Jack Murphy
- Murphy was a former senior trainer and adviser to an Iraqi SWAT team
- He said the CIA and President Biden are personally authorising missions
The CIA is combining with the spy service of a NATO ally in Europe to conduct covert sabotage operations inside Russia, according to new claims.
The clandestine campaign is behind many unexplained explosions and fires that have hit strategic or prominent facilities in recent months, says US expert Jack Murphy, an eight-year Army Special Operations veteran.
Separately other European intelligence services have allegedly been ‘running operatives into Russia to create chaos without CIA help’, as has Ukraine.
His claims follow as a new fire struck a shopping mall in Krasnodar region, in southern Russia, the latest in dozens of such incidents. It comes as Putin issued another chilling warning to the West on Christmas day.
A gas pipeline explodes in the republic of Chuvashia, some 360 miles east of Moscow
Thick black smoke shoots into the sky at a shopping mall housing the first Russian IKEA store. Moscow, December 9
In Ukraine today, air raid sirens have been going off around the country as some decide to move their Christmas day to avoid celebrating on the same day as Russia.
Oil and gas facilities, railways, fuel depots, power plants and shopping malls have been hit across Russia by mysterious explosions, with rumours of sabotage.
‘The campaign involves long standing sleeper cells that the allied spy service has activated to hinder Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine by waging a secret war behind Russian lines,’ said Murphy in a post.
‘The campaign is responsible for many of the unexplained explosions and other mishaps that have befallen the Russian military industrial complex since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.’
He cited anonymous US sources including three former intelligence and two military officials, and a sixth source ‘who has been briefed on the campaign’.
The CIA has denied the allegations.
‘The former officials declined to identify specific targets for the CIA-directed campaign, but railway bridges, fuel depots and power plants in Russia have all been damaged in unexplained incidents since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February,’ wrote Murphy on his website.
No US officials were involved on the ground, he said, but the strikes had used an ‘allied intelligence service’ and were approved by US president Joe Biden, he asserted.
‘While command and control over the sabotage program resides with the CIA for legal reasons, the NATO ally has a strong say in which operations go forward since it is their people taking the risks.’
Jack Murphy was a former senior trainer and adviser to an Iraqi SWAT team, with his special forces team conducting direct action and other missions across Northern Iraq
Explosion and fire at Angarsk Oil Refinery in Eastern Siberia (belongs to Rosneft) early in the morning of 15 December
Huge fireball after explosion hits gas pipeline in the Leningrad region of Russia
Murphy said that while the CIA had denied as ‘categorically false’ its involvement, the agency is entitled to make such denials under Title 50 of the U.S. Code which authorises covert actions.
Recent weeks have seen massive explosions, including a 19 November blast on a main gas pipeline belonging to Gazprom Transgaz SPB in Leningrad region, close to St Petersburg.
On Christmas Eve an inferno hit a large warehouse belonging to the defence-related All-Russian Institute of Light Alloys in Moscow.
The largest shareholder of this research institute is Rostec, a Russian state-owned defense conglomerate headed by Vladimir Putin’s colleague from his time as a KGB spy, Sergey Chemezov.
It is a corporation charged with developing, producing and exporting high technology including for military uses.
In a separate incident, on Friday a fire engulfed a military base in Moscow, raging for more than four hours.
It came a day after a mystery blaze on board Putin’s only aircraft carrier while the vessel was under repairs from an earlier inferno.
The fire could further delay the return of the Admiral Kuznetsov to active deployment.
Earlier there were two explosions and major infernos at key energy facilities in the Irkutsk region.
Markovskoye Oil and Gas field on fire in Eastern Siberia, Russia
The Markovskoye site saw huge plumes of flames and smoke spiralling into the air
Huge fireball after explosion hits gas pipeline in the Leningrad region of Russia
Flames shot into the sky from the giant blaze at the Markovskoye condensate treatment unit in the biting minus 22C cold.
The scene from hell was caused by the ‘jet fire’ in the east Siberian district of Ust-Kut.
At least seven people suffered injuries in a blast at Angarsk three days earlier.
Separately, a huge explosion hit a major Russian gas pipeline some 560 miles from the Ukrainian border.
The cause was unclear but videos showed a huge fireball burning in Chuvashia republic.
The pipeline transports gas from Russia via Ukraine to Europe, according to early reports.
On 9 December, a vast explosion and fire hit a major shopping mall in Khimki, Moscow, the original site of the first Russian IKEA store.
‘The NATO ally’s campaign overseen by the CIA is only one of several covert operations efforts being undertaken by Western nations in Russia,’ said Murphy, attributing his claim to two former US special operations officials.
He claimed European intelligence services have activated long-dormant resistance networks, who in have been ‘running operatives into Russia to create chaos without CIA help’.
Mick Mulroy, a former CIA paramilitary officer, reportedly said the value of these attacks is ‘substantial’ and serves multiple purposes.
He cited problems for Russia in keeping up with logistical supply lines and supplying its soldiers.
They also serve to sow doubt in Kremlin minds, because they show that Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘does not have control over what is happening in his own country,’ Mulroy said.
‘Is it a covert program, is it disgruntled Russians sabotaging their own plant, or is it pure incompetence of the workers? I don’t know, and perhaps the Kremlin doesn’t either. This matters to paranoid autocrats.’
Murphy was a former senior trainer and adviser to an Iraqi SWAT team, with his special forces team conducting direct action and other missions across Northern Iraq.
The latest allegations come as President Vladimir Putin blasted the West on Christmas day for trying to ‘tear apart’ Russia and said his offensive in Ukraine aimed to ‘unite the Russian people’.
Meanwhile in Kyiv, a day after deadly shelling in southern Ukraine, residents held Christmas services on Sunday, defying Russian spiritual leaders who celebrate it on January 7.
Putin has used the concept of ‘historical Russia’ to argue that Ukrainians and Russians are one people – undermining Kyiv’s sovereignty and justifying his 10-month offensive in Ukraine.
He said Russia’s ‘geopolitical opponents (were) aiming to tear apart Russia, the historical Russia,’ Putin said in excerpts from an interview to be aired later on Sunday.
‘Divide and conquer, that’s what they have always sought to accomplish and are still seeking to do,’ Putin added.
‘But our goal is different: it’s to unite the Russian people,’ he said.
Putin said his government was acting ‘in the right direction… protecting our national interests, the interests of our citizens, of our people.’
He repeated that Moscow was ready to negotiate and appeared unfazed when asked about the new air defence system the United States will deliver to Ukraine.
‘Of course we will destroy it, 100 percent!’ Putin said, referring to the Patriot missile battery promised to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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