The mystery electric substation fires that 'bear the hallmarks of Russian sabotage': How spate of suspicious blazes are 'straight out of playbook' of Putin's GRU spy wing

A mysterious spate of electrical substation infernos that person swept crossed the UK could perchance beryllium the enactment of Russian saboteurs, a British spymaster has hinted.

Colonel Philip Ingram, a erstwhile serviceman successful British subject intelligence, said Putin's GRU spy bureau mightiness beryllium 'testing the water' with attacks connected cardinal infrastructure.

It comes aft a bid of suspicious blazes ravaged substations adjacent to hospitals, subject bases, captious transport hubs and large sports stadiums nationwide.

Ex-spook Col Ingram claimed the targeting of specified powerfulness sites was thing that comes 'straight retired of the playbook' of Russia's secretive GRU. 

'There is simply a anticipation what we're seeing with this spate of fires is tied successful with immoderate sabotage cognition perchance by Russian GRU. You can't regularisation it out,' helium warned.

'This is thing wrong Russian subject quality remit to place and enactment retired however to onslaught and perchance trial those theories.'

Meanwhile, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk yesterday accused Russian peculiar services of ordering an arson onslaught that astir destroyed a buying centre successful the country's superior Warsaw past year. 

Russia has denied immoderate engagement successful the arson onslaught and accused Poland of Russophobia. 

In March, Heathrow's North Hyde substation was destroyed erstwhile a occurrence ripped done it, knocking retired powerfulness for 12 hours and causing planetary question mayhem.

Some 270,000 aerial rider journeys were disrupted by the closure and near 67,000 homes without power. The catastrophe proved a nationalist embarrassment and highlighted the vulnerability of 1 of Britain's main question hubs.

The chaos saw counter-terrorism constabulary initially deployed amid fears the blaze astatine the National Grid-owned presumption was a deliberate attack.

Five days aft the inferno astatine the 60-year-old transformer, the Metropolitan Police declared it had recovered 'no grounds to suggest that the incidental was suspicious successful nature'. It's presumption has not changed, MailOnline understands.

A probe is inactive being carried out, with an interim study by National Energy System Operator past week informing the origin of the occurrence astatine the installation yet remains chartless but that they person ruled retired immoderate suspicious cause. 

Experts importune substation fires are 'rare' but 'not unheard of'.

But investigation by MailOnline has revealed a fig of suspicious incidents taking spot successful the days and weeks aft the Heathrow outage, which person acrophobic Col Ingram. 

On April 30 successful Glasgow, a immense occurrence ripped done an electrical substation successful Taransay Street. The roadworthy backs onto defence elephantine BAE Systems’ Govan shipbuilding installation – which is constructing the adjacent fleet of Type 26 frigates for the Royal Navy. 

No origin for the blaze has been announced, with constabulary present investigating it. 

The Govan shipyard is deemed a captious tract for UK defence, with Col Ingram saying it could beryllium a premier people for hostile authorities actors oregon overseas quality officials. 

A time earlier, connected April 29, different melodramatic inferno ravaged a substation successful Paddington, cardinal London. 

Shocking photos showed a ferocious partition of flames bursting precocious into the entity from the facility, successful Victoria Passage successful Aberdeen Place. 

Eighty residents had to beryllium evacuated from a neighbouring operation artifact amid fears the flames could engulf it.

The occurrence was little than a mile from St Mary's Hospital which treats thousands of radical a year, and Paddington railway presumption - Britain's 2nd busiest station. The blaze was besides adjacent to the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground. 

And connected Sunday, 2 parts of the UK were affected by large substation fires. 

In Exeter, immoderate 400 homes were left without powerfulness aft a occurrence ripped done a powerfulness hub successful Fore Street. 

The substation is simply a fewer 100 feet from the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, 1 of the region’s busiest hospitals treating astir 90,000 patients a year.

About 250 miles northbound successful Liverpool, different substation successful Lower Breck Road bursts into flames. It is based a fewer 100 feet from the Anfield shot stadium – location to Premier League champions, Liverpool.

Government sources past nighttime insisted determination was 'no evidence' that overseas interference was progressive successful the spate of blazes - which were apt ignited alternatively owed to 'technical issues'.

Col Ingram said the accidental of immoderate of the fires being linked to Kremlin spies was improbable - but not impossible. 

'It's much apt to beryllium a coincidence than hostile quality services but we can't regularisation it out,' helium said. 'Those investigating these fires request to look astatine it with an unfastened mind.

'Even if they can't find grounds of a hostile authorities oregon of sabotage, that doesn't mean it's not needfully them. They volition beryllium precise bully astatine hiding these things and that evidence.'

Col Ingram added during his clip successful moving successful the British Army, helium had planned akin operations to disrupt force powerfulness supplies up of bombing runs.

'This is the benignant of readying immoderate quality organisation volition bash and bash precise carefully,' helium said.

'When the Heathrow occurrence occurred, I was 1 of the galore who thought this was a small excessively coincidental and excessively good. It's close retired the Russian GRU playbook; identifying things that are comparatively unprotected and uncovering a mode of causing harm to them.

He continued: 'I retrieve readying for bombing runs and we needed to unopen down an force powerfulness facility.

'We targeted the substation. There was a batch of readying that went into this. We targeted bespoke instrumentality oregon things that would instrumentality months to repair.

'We utilized specialised munitions arsenic they didn't origin ample harm oregon casualties. But it took retired a cardinal constituent that efficaciously fried itself. We knew that this point was lone built successful a fistful of places successful the satellite and pb clip to physique it was respective months.'

Russia has been accused of carrying retired a fig of sabotage attacks crossed European Nato countries successful caller years. 

According to a study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), they astir tripled betwixt 2023 and 2024, aft quadrupling betwixt 2022 and 2023.

Transportation and captious infrastructure are often the premier targets for specified sabotage, the CSIS claimed. 

About 27 per cent of the known attacks were against proscription targets, different 27 per cent deed authorities sites, and 21 per cent were against captious infrastructure, including the energy grid, pipelines and undersea fiber-optic cables, the think-tank added.

In November Britain's overseas spy main accused Russia of waging a 'staggering reckless campaign' of sabotage crossed European.  

Speaking successful Paris, Richard Moore, the caput of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service known arsenic MI6, said: 'We person precocious uncovered a staggeringly reckless run of Russian sabotage successful Europe, adjacent arsenic Putin and his acolytes resort to atomic sabre-rattling to sow fearfulness astir the consequences of aiding Ukraine.

'The outgo of supporting Ukraine is good known but the outgo of not doing truthful would beryllium infinitely higher. If Putin succeeds China would measurement the implications, North Korea would beryllium emboldened and Iran would go inactive much dangerous.'

The presumption was backed by Ken McCallum, the caput of MI5, who warned Russia's quality bureau has been connected a relentless ngo to make 'sustained mayhem connected British and European streets'.

During his yearly information update connected the threats posed by Britain, Mr McCallum said GRU agents had carried retired 'arson, sabotage and much unsafe actions conducted with expanding recklessness'.

'The UK’s starring relation successful supporting Ukraine means we loom ample successful the fevered imaginativeness of Putin’s regime, and we should expect to spot continued acts of aggression present astatine home,' MI5's director-general warned. 

'The GRU successful peculiar is connected a sustained ngo to make mayhem connected British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more. Dangerous actions conducted with expanding recklessness.'

MailOnline has approached the Government and London Fire Brigade for comment.