Incendiary parcels sent from Lithuania as part of Russian covert operation
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The incendiary devices sent from Lithuania on DHL planes in the summer were part of a Russian covert operation, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In July, one device caused a fire in a parcel warehouse in Germany and another in the UK.
According to the publication, the fire at the DHL warehouse near Birmingham was caused by electric massagers implanted with a magnesium-based flammable material sent from Lithuania.
The goal of this Russian operation was to figure out how to move these shipments and start fires on cargo or passenger planes flying to the US and Canada, the Wall Street Journal writes.
According to the publication, a European law enforcement official has reported that Lithuanian police have arrested a suspect who sent four incendiary devices from a DHL store in Vilnius.
The suspect identified himself as Igor Prudnikov, but his real name is Alexander Suranov, the official said. Investigators said they believed he was being used as a proxy for Russian spy services.
The Kremlin denied such information to the newspaper.
One US government official, when asked about the alleged Russian plot, told CNN that there is currently no active threat to US-bound planes
In October, Polish officials announced the arrest of four people suspected of involvement in international sabotage operations. An international search was also launched for two more suspects.
The Polish statement said that “parcels containing disguised explosives and dangerous materials” were sent by courier to the UK and European Union countries and “spontaneously ignited or exploded during transport by land and air”.
According to the statement, the sabotage group in question was also seeking to test a transmission channel for such shipments, which would eventually be sent to the US and Canada.
A spokesman for the UK police counter-terrorism force confirmed to CNN that the incident in Birmingham is being investigated in cooperation with other European law enforcement officials.
Lithuanian law enforcement is also investigating the incidents.
Recently, various fires in Central and Eastern Europe have been linked to these operations.
