Adversary Intelligence — 2026-09-18

DW Investigation Identifies Cuban Salsa Teacher as GRU-Directed Coordinator of Arson Sabotage Across Four EU Countries

BLUFRussia's open harboring of an internationally wanted GRU sabotage coordinator makes his arrest within six months very unlikely and signals Moscow views exposed proxy networks as cost-free.

An investigation by Deutsche Welle and three European broadcasters identified Cuban national Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, a Camagüey-born dance instructor who has lived in Russia at least seven years and teaches in Petrozavodsk, as the recruiter known online as "Dios" and "Adrian," who over four months in 2024 directed arson attacks on a building-materials warehouse in Poland, a bus depot in Czechia, a waste-processing plant in Romania, and Lithuania-made equipment bound for Ukraine 12. Lithuanian prosecutors have publicly linked the network to Russia's GRU military intelligence and placed Romagoza on an international wanted list 13. DW reported he recruited at least a dozen operatives via Telegram and Facebook ads offering $1,500 plus bonuses per operation, including Colombian ex-soldier Luis Alfonso Murillo Diosa, who was arrested in Romania and sentenced in 2025 to six years for attempted sabotage 14. At least nine recruits have been detained overall, with two serving six-to-eight-year sentences and others awaiting trial, while Romagoza remains at large and was seen teaching dance in Petrozavodsk as recently as April 12.

Analysis
Romagoza's continued public presence in Petrozavodsk, teaching classes as recently as April while under an international wanted notice, indicates Russia is not shielding him through relocation or documentation changes, which very likely reflects Moscow's assessment that GRU disposable-agent networks carry no meaningful cost when exposed. His arrest within six months is very unlikely absent a shift in Russian custodial cooperation, since Moscow has no extradition obligation to Poland, Czechia, Romania, or Lithuania. The Il Riformista investigation naming GRU, FSB, and SVR diplomatic-cover officers in Rome documents a parallel but more deniable track of Russian intelligence operating in the same NATO theater. Moderate confidence reflects consistent DW-led sourcing on his location and continued recruitment activity, but no independent indicator of Russian intent to surrender him.
5 sources
  1. Cuban dance teacher ordered EU sabotage attacks from Russia - DW (Deutsche Welle)
  2. By Day, He Taught Salsa in Russia. By Night, He Recruited Saboteurs Across Europe - UNITED24 Media
  3. Cuban Dance Instructor Orchestrated Sabotage Attacks Across Europe from Russia for Russian Intelligence - Cuba Headlines
  4. Cuban salsa teacher in Russia recruited agents for sabotage across EU, DW finds - Hromadske
  5. Cuban dance teacher ordered EU sabotage attacks from Russia - DW (Deutsche Welle)

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