Western officials suspect Russia was behind a plot to place Molotov cocktails on cargo planes

WARSAW, Poland — Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind a plot to place incendiary devices in bags on cargo planes bound for North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that caught fire. in stock in England.

Poland said last month it had arrested four people suspected of involvement in a foreign intelligence sabotage operation and was looking for two more. Lithuania’s Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė said on Tuesday that an unspecified number of people had been detained in several countries, without providing any details.

These developments come as Western officials say they are seeing increased hybrid sabotage war on the part of Russia targeting Ukraine’s allies, including election disinformation and arson in Europe this year. Several officials said they believed the attacks were the work of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, although Moscow has denied any involvement.

The Polish Internal Security Agency (ABW) reports that incidents in Poland, as well as other EU and NATO member countries, have become more frequent this year. ABW believes that they are initiated and coordinated by Russian intelligence services. So far, 20 people have been charged in investigations carried out by the prosecutor’s office, ABW and the police.

Polish prosecutor Katarzyna Kalów-Jaszewska said the investigation is focused on foreign agents committing acts of sabotage, including damage to industrial facilities or critical infrastructure such as airports, aircraft and other vehicles, as well as arson using spontaneously combustible packages sent to EU countries and EU countries. UK, which may ignite during road or air transport.

She added that the group tested a channel for sending such packages to the United States and Canada.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report details of the cargo plane incident.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said it has introduced additional security measures in recent months for some cargo heading to the United States.

“We continually adjust our security posture as needed and promptly share all relevant information with our industry partners, including requirements and recommendations to help them mitigate risk,” the TSA said.

Dirk Heinrichs, a spokesman for DHL Germany, said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press that the company could not provide details on the matter but was “cooperating fully with the relevant authorities to protect our employees, our network and our customers’ supplies.” . “

The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, said last month that Britain is facing a “staggering increase” in attempted assassinations, sabotage and other crimes on its soil by Russia as well as Iran.

Chalov-Yashevskaya reported on October 25 that packages containing disguised explosives were sent through freight companies to the EU and the UK to “check the transmission channel of such packages” that were ultimately destined for the United States and Canada.

Incendiary devices in Germany and the UK went off in July.

According to Thomas Haldenwang, head of German intelligence, one of them was at a stop at the DHL logistics center at Leipzig airport. German news agency dpa reported that a connecting flight carrying cargo arriving from one of the Baltic states was delayed in Leipzig and was on the ground when the cargo container caught fire.

British counter-terrorism police are investigating whether Russian agents were behind an incendiary device in a parcel that caught fire at a DHL warehouse in Meanworth, near Birmingham, in central England, on July 22. The incident, first reported by the Guardian newspaper and German broadcasters, was reported to be similar to that in Germany.

The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza also reported that a fire broke out in a courier truck near Warsaw.

“We are observing aggressive actions of the Russian special services. In particular, Russian espionage and sabotage in Germany are increasing, both quantitatively and qualitatively,” Haldenwang told the German Budestag (parliament) last month, discussing the Leipzig incident.

“The activities of Russian intelligence services in the real world, as well as in cyberspace, show that Germany is at the center of Russia’s hybrid war against Western democracies,” he added. “Russia is using its entire arsenal of tools: from influencing political discussions within Germany to cyber attacks on critical infrastructure and sabotage. Russia’s willingness to use force proves that it is also willing to put human lives at risk.”

In a rare public appearance outlining the main threats to the UK, MI5 director general Ken McCallum said: “The GRU in particular has an ongoing mission to create chaos on British and European streets: we have seen arson, sabotage and more. Dangerous acts carried out with increasing recklessness.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday called media reports about the alleged sabotage plot an example of “vague fabrication.”

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Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Danika Kirka in London, Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Ludas Dapkus in Vilnius, Lithuania, contributed.