And it caught fire Devices At DHL logistics centers in July, one of which is in Leipzig, Germany, and the other in Birmingham In England, which led to the start of an international race to uncover the perpetrators.
According to security officials familiar with… InvestigationsAgencies managed European intelligence From learning how these devices were made—they were electrical massage devices laced with a flammable magnesium-based material—I concluded that they were part of a broader Russian conspiracy.
Officials say the electric massage devices, which were sent to… UK From Lithuania, it served as an experiment to test the possibility of transporting such incendiary devices on board Planes Heading to North America.
Arrest people
The Polish National Prosecutor’s Office reported that four people were arrested in Poland in connection with the fires and charged with sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency. Poland is working with other countries to find at least two more suspects.
“The group’s goal was also to test a transportation channel for these packages, which were ultimately destined for the United States and Canada,” the office stated, without revealing the identity of the entity behind the efforts.
But the head of Poland’s foreign intelligence agency, Pawel Schuta, suggested that Russian spies were responsible, and that the attack, had it been carried out, would have represented a major escalation in Moscow’s campaign against the West.
“I’m not sure if political leaders in Russia are aware of the consequences if one of these packages explodes, causing a deadly mass event,” Shota said.
Shota’s comments are in line with what other Western intelligence officials have said, asserting that Russia, specifically its military intelligence agency known as the GRU, is responsible.
Russia responds
“We have not heard any official accusations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question from the Wall Street Journal, adding that “this is conventional, unsubstantiated speculation from the media.”
Accusations of sabotage
European authorities accuse Russia of expanding a campaign of sabotage, including setting fires in the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, attacks on pipelines and data cables in the Baltic Sea, and tampering with water supplies in Sweden and Finland.
Earlier this year, the United States warned Germany that… Russia She plans to assassinate the CEO of Rheinmetall, the German military giant that supplies Ukraine.
In the months following the fires at DHL’s logistics centres, the heads of both British intelligence agencies stated that Russia was engaging in sabotage operations. In September, Richard Moore, the head of MI6, said Russian intelligence agencies had “become radicalized in some of their behaviour”.
The following month, Ken McCollum, head of MI5, warned that Russia was organizing “arson, sabotage and more dangerous activities carried out with increasing recklessness.”
Shooting down commercial passenger or cargo planes is considered a major escalation, and some Western intelligence officials have questioned whether such a plot could have been carried out by Russian spies without full authorization from the Kremlin, according to sources familiar with the matter.
A CIA spokesman in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
Approached by DHL planes
Incendiary devices that ignited in July came dangerously close to being on planes used by DHL, sources reported.
The German police, which tested versions of the devices, indicated that once the magnesium ignites, it will be difficult to extinguish it using the extinguishing systems available on most planes, which may force pilots to make an emergency landing.
People familiar with the investigation explained that planes far from land and flying over the ocean may be at risk of crashing.
DHL, based in Germany, uses cargo planes and passenger planes to transport packages. A company spokeswoman said that the incendiary devices that ignited in July were being carried on cargo planes and that the company was cooperating with the authorities.
The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) declined to comment on the alleged plot, but indicated that it is working with US and foreign airlines to enhance security measures on air cargo shipments as part of ongoing efforts…
