Cuban dance teacher ordered EU sabotage attacks from Russia

On social media platforms, the man called himself "Adrian" or "Dios," meaning "God” in Spanish. In 2024, accounts linked to the man posted job ads on Telegram. "Work as a photographer," one offered in Russian in a chat about opportunities in Poland. "To those interested in applying, send resume, phone number and passport," another advertised in a group for Cuban expatriates in Russia. "Looking for people with military experience in monitoring, intelligence, logistics and tactical maneuvers," one said in Spanish in a group for Latinos, promising $1,500 plus a bonus for each operation completed. 

Dios lured multiple people into carrying out sabotage for Russia in at least four EU countries, an investigation by DW and three other European broadcasters has found. Most of the recruits came from Spanish-speaking countries.

For months, DW and its partners conducted dozens of interviews with security officials and people close to the suspects. We pieced together classified court documents, official statements, social media posts and leaked data to find out who Dios is and reconstruct how he built a network of saboteurs to commit arson attacks across Europe.

Not all of them completed their tasks.

Recruiting vulnerable people

One of the people Dios recruited was Luis Alfonso Murillo Diosa, who was 34 years old at the time.

Originally from Caicedo, a rural town in western Colombia known for its mountainous landscapes and its crops, Murillo was raised in a family of coffee farmers. But several years of poor harvests pushed the business into debt, according to someone close to the family.

Murillo spent six years in the Colombian army. According to court documents, he left in 2015. He then hopped between jobs like many ex-soldiers, juggling barista courses, stints as a bodyguard and his family's coffee business.

In early 2024, Murillo decided to enlist in the Ukrainian army, where foreign fighters can earn a few thousand euros a month when deployed to the front line, court documents show. 

Looking for information about the process, he joined a Facebook group for Latin Americans seeking to fight in Ukraine. That's when he was contacted by Dios.

"It's often vulnerable people who are being targeted,” said Daniela Richterova, an associate professor in Intelligence Studies at King's College London. "Vulnerable people who need money and are willing to travel for money and are willing to not ask many questions about the purpose of what they're carrying out."  

Arrested for attempted sabotage

In a private Facebook message, Dios introduced himself as a member of a "special group," and asked Murillo to work with him on "special missions" in Europe instead of going to Ukraine, according to classified court documents reviewed by DW. 

Murillo took the offer, and Dios organized everything remotely: flight tickets, accommodation, ground transport. They never met in person. 

Once Murillo reached Bucharest in July 2024, Dios sent him a satellite image with a recycling facility and an oil well marked. Murillo was supposed to take photos and videos of the locations — and later start a fire. However, he was detained while walking near the recycling facility one night after taking photos. According to court records, Murillo told investigators that he never intended to commit arson. He said he was trying to get to Europe to reach Ukraine, and didn't know for whom he was working.

In 2025, Murillo was sentenced to six years in prison for attempted sabotage.

Russia's 'disposable agents'

DW and its partners have confirmed that Murillo was one of at least a dozen people recruited by Dios for acts of sabotage across Europe. Such recruits are frequently referred to as "disposable agents": people often hired online who at times don't even know the identities of their employers or the real aim of their assignments.  

The Kremlin has increasingly used disposable agents after EU governments expelled scores of Russian diplomats suspected of espionage and disinformation following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the conflict researcher Keir Giles told DW.

"That left a gap in Russia's capability, and it took time for them to find this new means of recruiting random people to carry out sometimes apparently random attacks," said Giles, who has written several books about Russia's military.

In 2024 alone, disposable agents burned down a shopping center in Poland, set fire to an Ikea store in Lithuania and delivered incendiary packages that ignited at logistics hubs in several countries. German authorities said throwaway agents, as they are also called, steered a drone with explosives toward a Ukrainian freight plane in Leipzig in August. 

The suspected perpetrators of such attacks are often not Russian — nor do they have a known prior connection to Russian intelligence services. Many of the people prosecuted have been Ukrainian refugees, low-level criminals or local youths looking to make quick money.

"Russia doesn't have to be particularly careful about covering its tracks, because there is no downside to being detected," Giles said. "And, of course, it boosts the idea that Russia wants to project that it is omnipotent, that it can cause damage wherever."

Russian arson made in Cuba

DW confirmed that, over a span of four months in 2024, Dios instructed his recruits to set fire to two construction-supply businesses in Poland, a bus garage in the Czech Republic, a recycling facility in Romania and equipment destined for Ukraine produced by a company in Lithuania.

Lithuanian prosecutors were the only ones to publicly attribute the series of arson attacks to Russia's military intelligence service, known as GRU. They also put a Cuban man living in Russia on an international wanted list.

After reviewing classified court documents and dozens of leaked files, DW and its partners were able to confirm that Cuban national Oemis Romagoza Durruthy is the man behind the alias Dios.

Born in Camaguey, Cuba's third-largest city, Romagoza has lived in Russia for at least seven years. 

A Latin dance teacher in the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk, Romagoza is listed as a contact person on the social media channels of a local dance studio, Made in Cuba. In dozens of online videos of his dance classes, he shows off his salsa, bachata and kizomba steps.

Romagoza married a Russian woman in 2022 and later obtained Russian citizenship. A series of wedding to photos DW found on social media show the couple posing next to a grand piano. Other pictures show them with their two children. 

DW was unable to determine when and how he came to work on behalf of Russia's secret services. Leaked data indicate that Romagoza might have run into financial trouble. In 2023, he borrowed money from several credit lenders. In one of the entries, he listed a supermarket chain as his employer. 

A few months later, Romagoza joined several Facebook groups of Latin Americans looking for work in Poland or seeking to fight for Ukraine. Around the same time, Dios started posting job offers on Telegram.

Sabotage continues in EU

It is unclear whether Dios continued recruiting people or directed more attacks after September 2024. But Russia's relentless sabotage campaign across Europe hasn't stopped. 

In August alone, Estonia arrested two suspects for an arson attack targeting a company that supplies unmanned military vehicles to Ukraine, and Poland reported fires at two other facilities where components for drones and helicopters are manufactured. Authorities in both countries suspect that Russia is behind the plots. 

"It seems like there are still people out there who are either naive enough or are really hungry for money and motivated by monetary rewards for these kinds of activities," said Richterova, whose research focuses on Russian intelligence. 

At least nine of the disposable agents Romagoza recruited have been caught. Two are serving sentences of six to eight years for attempted sabotage or terrorism. Others are currently awaiting trial. 

Meanwhile, European authorities are still after Romagoza, who might still be in Russia. In April, the Made in Cuba studio posted a video of him teaching a salsa class. Romagoza is seen facing the mirror, leading a group of women who follow his steps and his commands. "Because that is what I am. In heaven, I am the chief," sings the Cuban salsa tune playing in the background. 

Around the same time the Latin dance studio posted the video, Romagoza joined at least two more Facebook groups for Latin Americans looking for work in Poland.

Oemis Romagoza Durruthy did not reply to requests for comment. 

Additional research by: Andrei Popoviciu and Katarzyna Tuszynska

In cooperation with Indre Makaraityte (LRT), Adéla Pacliková (CT) and Pilar Requena (RTVE)