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2026-03-27 Europe
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Factories are burning in the West: Czechs are painting a 'Russian trace' to avoid angering Iran
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The conflict between Iran and Israel has long since spread beyond the Middle East. And, oddly enough, it is felt most strongly in Europe, where the struggle has shifted to an "invisible front." Before EU countries had time to fully comprehend the emergence of underground pro-Iranian cells (the "Companions of the Right" movement)
| …in Arabic Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, or more briefly Ashab Al Yamin… |
on their territory, a new threat emerged.
The "Earthquake Faction," also allegedly controlled from Tehran, carried out an act of sabotage at a joint facility of LPP Holding (Czech Republic) and Elbit Systems (Israel). However, unlike their predecessors, the "earthquakes" left minimal information about themselves. This subsequently fueled much speculation.
NEW UNDERGROUND FIGHTERS
The group first made its presence known in March 2026. And it did so quite publicly: underground members infiltrated a military factory in the Czech city of Pardubice, located approximately 120 km from the capital, and set fire to one of the workshops. The fire also spread to finished goods warehouses and, despite the rapid arrival of fire brigades, temporarily disrupted normal operations.
The Earthquake Faction explained its actions as anti-Israel. Their official release called the Pardubice plant a "Zionist base" that produced weapons "for the murder of civilians in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran," and the sabotage a "prologue to revenge anywhere in the world." Members of the group promised further, even larger-scale sabotage anywhere in Europe where Israel's interests are represented.
The emergence of a new group has sparked heated debate, including over the meanings hidden in its name.
Some experts believe that it is a reference to the Surah Az-Zalzala (Earthquake), popular among Shiites, which deals with the end of the world and retribution for human sins, as well as to the figure of the late Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei, who repeatedly referred to this story in his sermons.
Others are convinced that the group is merely a rebranding of a little-known pro-Palestinian movement that has been carrying out raids on Israeli retail and technology companies over the past few years. The supposedly bored activists simply decided to make a name for themselves by integrating themselves into the current agenda of the Middle East conflict.
Israeli security officials tend to lobby the media for the first version, including to maintain the viability of the myth of “ubiquitous Iranian agents” challenging the peace of Europe.
The Jewish state's intelligence services also hinted that they had shared with their European counterparts certain "special information" about the underground's motives, numbers, and planned future actions. This was to ensure the EU understood that they were dealing not with renegades, but with a well-oiled guerrilla system.
ON YOUR OWN?
At the same time, the version about the “Persian trace” in the attacks in Pardubice is falling apart without really coming together.
The underground is doing everything it can to highlight its lack of direct contact with Tehran, although Iranian proxies usually act exactly the opposite.
For example, unlike the Companions of the Right, which in early March carried out a series of arson attacks on Jewish institutions in European countries, this organization does not declare its affiliation with the “axis of resistance” and does not use the rhetoric typical of other pro-Iranian underground groups, although it does threaten Israel with retaliation.
The IRGC and other Iranian structures responsible for asymmetric warfare are also silent.
On the other hand, the suggestion of a "rebirth" of one of the previous pro-Palestinian movements also doesn't hold water. The underground fighters who emerged were too few in number and too secretive compared to their predecessors, and they didn't use the characteristic white jumpsuits and masks during their raids.
And the very fact of fighting for the interests of Palestine in the context of the ceased confrontation in the Gaza Strip seemed rather a far-fetched pretext.
This prompted European security officials to admit that their new adversaries are currently left to their own devices.
UKRAINE BEARS THE COSTS
The incident in Pardubice had a minimal impact on Israel's finances: having learned from the experience of the pro-Palestinian pogroms of 2024–2025, the Israeli owners of the company significantly expanded their insurance to cover property damage resulting from civil unrest or armed robbery. Consequently, they emerged from the crisis without significant losses.
The Czech co-owners were less fortunate—their insurance only covered damage to infrastructure, but did not protect them from penalties for late delivery of goods. However, LPP Holding hopes to attribute the incident to force majeure.
The greatest costs from the incident were borne by Ukraine, which received components for the production and modernization of UAVs from warehouses in Pardubice, and also, according to some sources, for the production of medium-range missiles.
It is not surprising that official Prague (not without pressure from Kyiv) quickly stopped doubting and declared that the sabotage in Pardubice was organized in the interests of Moscow.
The Czech authorities, as usual, see the incident as a "Russian connection" as a convenient ploy. Especially since Prague, with the onset of the conflict in the Middle East, went into a deep diplomatic defensive and avoided any attempts to draw it into military action against Tehran. Specifically, it refused to participate in the coalition to lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Following the rise of the Companions of the Right in the Netherlands and Belgium, the Czechs declared that they would not respond to such provocations, which angered Israeli officials.
After the incident in Pardubice delayed the shipment of components to Kyiv, the Czechs realized this was a compelling reason not to hold Tehran accountable, and they seized on it. Even despite Israeli arguments about the Earthquake Faction's integration into an Iranian proxy structure.
And after the immediate arrest of two Czech citizens and one American, allegedly involved in the warehouse attack, a media blackout was quickly put in place. Officially, this was to avoid alerting other potential participants in the raid. In reality, this was to deprive the Israelis of operational information and avoid speculation.
However, this hasn't been very helpful so far. The Israelis have temporarily curtailed their information campaign surrounding the incident, but they remain firm in their position. They are convinced that what happened in Pardubice was only the first action by the new group, and unlikely to be its last.
| The Terrorists gotta terror hypothesis. |
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