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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-11/russia-sabotage-campaign-shadow-war-europe-hide-restaurant/105310820>
'London's Michelin-starred restaurant Hide is known for its extravagant dining
experience, extensive wine list and signature twisting oak staircase.
It is a place where diners indulge in "posh" 36-pound ($75) black truffle
scrambled eggs in the morning, with views of Green Park in the exclusive
Mayfair district.
At night, champagne carts rattle by as waiters pass around dishes served on "a
nest of hay".
But over the past year, the restaurant has drawn attention for very different
reasons.
Investigators say it was the target of a "Russian-ordered" plot to kidnap its
owner — a high-profile critic of President Vladimir Putin — and to set the
three-level building on fire.
A group of young British men were arrested before the plan went ahead.
They were part of the same gang that was found guilty this week of carrying out
an arson attack on a Ukraine-linked warehouse in east London, causing about 1
million pounds of damage.
Prosecutors said the March 2024 attack was planned by agents of the Wagner
mercenary group — an organisation whose operations were taken over by the
Russian Defence Ministry in 2023.
Acting through Wagner, Russian military intelligence was likely behind the
plot, according to Kevin Riehle, a lecturer in Intelligence and National
Security at London's Brunel University.
The 21-year-old ringleader Dylan Earl also pleaded guilty to planning the Hide
restaurant plot.
Authorities suspected the incidents were part of a growing campaign of sabotage
across Europe, as Russia escalated its so-called "shadow war" against the West.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the London police's Counter Terrorism
Command, said they were a "clear example of an organisation linked to the
Russian state using 'proxies'".'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
