Incidents in Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the UK have led to suspicions that Moscow is trying to sabotage European countries for backing Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
British counter-terrorism police are looking into whether Russian spies planted a device on a UK-bound plane which later caught fire at a warehouse in Birmingham in July.
The Guardian first reported the news, saying that the parcel is believed to have arrived at the DHL warehouse by air. It’s not known where it was heading.
The paper added that no one was reported as injured in the fire and that the local fire brigade and staff handled the blaze.
It follows similar incidents in other European countries in recent months.
Another suspicious package due for air mail delivery went up in flames at a different DHL warehouse in Leipzig, also in July.
Investigators are looking to see if there are links between the two incidents, adding that the parcels could have downed the planes had they caught fire midflight.
Thomas Haldenwang, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence service, told the country’s parliament last week that the Leipzig package “would have resulted in a crash” had it started burning during a flight.
Russia is the prime suspect in arson attacks across the continent, which authorities see as acts of sabotage.
“The UK’s leading role in supporting Ukraine means we loom large in the fevered imagination of Putin’s regime, and we should expect to see continued acts of aggression here at home,” Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, the UK’s security service, said last week.
“The GRU [Russia’s military intelligence agency] in particular is on a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets.”
“We’ve seen arson, sabotage and more,” he added. “Dangerous actions, conducted with increasing recklessness.”
What else was hit in Europe?
Earlier this year, Poland arrested nine individuals for allegedly acting on behalf of Russia to commit physical assault and arson in the city of Wrocław.
Another arson attack at an IKEA warehouse in Lithuania has also been linked to Kremlin operations, while Latvia has warned of potential Russian activity there too.
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa warned of possible Russian operations in her country, explaining that “arson is one of the most typical forms of diversion for Russian special services”.
McCallum’s suspicions that the attacks appear to be revenge for Europe’s strong support of Ukraine against the Russian invasion are not without merit.
In yet more incidents this year, a London warehouse belonging to a company linked to Ukraine caught fire, as did a shopping centre in Warsaw.
There was even an alleged Russian plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, CEO of German arms maker Rheinmetall — a company that boasts of being “a powerful partner at Ukraine’s side” on its website.
It’s believed that Russia employs individuals with European nationality and with links to organised crime, recruiting them via social media to keep its movements discreet.
