Romanian prosecutors said on Thursday they had detained six people on charges of trying to overthrow the state with the help of Russia, marking a dramatic escalation of tensions between Bucharest and Moscow.
The suspects were detained on Wednesday, the same day Romania, a member of Nato and the EU, declared the Russian embassy's military attaché and his deputy personae non grata for what it said were acts contravening diplomatic rules.
Moscow has said it would respond to the move.
“Starting in 2023, five of the defendants, with a suspect, formed an organised criminal group with the aim of undermining the sovereignty and independence of the Romanian state by politically undermining the country's defence capacity,” anti-organised crime prosecuting unit DIICOT said.
“The members of the criminal group repeatedly contacted agents of a foreign power, located in Romania and the Russian Federation,” it said, but did not name the suspects.
There was no immediate comment from Russia.