Allegations have emerged that the sabotage of numerous cars in German cities, marked with environmentalist messages, might have been orchestrated by Russian spies to undermine the credibility of the Green political movement.

According to Politico, almost 300 vehicles in Berlin, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and Brandenburg were vandalized during December using builders’ expanding foam in their exhaust systems, which could prevent the cars from starting or cause them to stall by blocking the exhaust gases needed for the combustion cycle.

The vandalized cars were also adorned with stickers showing Robert Habeck, the German Green Party Vice Chancellor, with the message Be greener! This led to public anger directed at environmentalists at the time.

Initially, these acts were attributed to eco-terrorists. However, Politico citing German magazine Der Spiegel has now reported, citing intelligence sources, that these attacks might have been carried out by Russian agents paid to undermine the Green party’s reputation in upcoming elections.

According to the Spiegel report, the investigation centers on a group of young men of Serbian, Bosnian, and German descent who were stopped in a van in December. The van reportedly held several canisters of spray foam, but since they were believed to be repairmen, they were released. That same night, numerous cars in the vicinity had their exhausts obstructed.

According to Politico, Der Spiegel alleges that one of the men later confessed to the police that he was recruited via a messaging app, taught how to sabotage vehicles, and was promised €100 ($100) per car by someone from Russia. It’s claimed that thousands of Euros were disbursed for this operation.

While a Green Party spokesman says the report proves how Russia seeks to manipulate elections, acts of sabotage of personal cars by climate activists is not unprecedented. It has been noted that thousands of SUVs in numerous European cities have had their tires slashed by groups known as Tyre Extinguishers, who also leave notes to inform owners that their vehicle choice is deemed unacceptable by the activists.

It is entirely possible Russian intelligence is hiring people down on their luck, even criminals, to do this kind of dirty work. But, even though many Russian diplomatic channels have been cut off or disrupted resulting from the Ukrainian conflict, Russian intelligence is sophisticated enough to where they have the ability to work around such hurdles including not have to utilize or resort to such methods of sabotage.

Germany’s Green Party, if not the country’s environmentalists, is already very unpopular resulting from their policies being enacted so attempts to blame Russia for such mayhem is specious at best. It is very likely this action was a set up in hopes of making German Greens out to be victims (i.e. a self inflicted wound) in hopes of redeeming themselves for upcoming elections. It is a tactic the Left has used many times and, fortunately, has failed miserably.

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