In Vilnius, an 18-year-old Ukrainian was convicted in the case of arson at IKEA

On November 24, the district court in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, sentenced 18-year-old Ukrainian citizen Danylo Bardadim to three years and four months in prison in the case of setting fire to an IKEA store in May 2024 – according to the investigation, on the order of Russian special services. This was reported by the Lithuanian broadcaster LRT.

Bardadim faced 5 years in prison, the term was reduced by a third, as the case was considered under a shortened procedure.

According to the investigation, Bardadim and his accomplice, also a citizen of Ukraine, on the order of the Russian special service, promised to set fire to and blow up shopping centers in Lithuania and Latvia in order to force the authorities of these countries and the entire EU to “reduce or stop support for Ukraine” and destabilize state structures.

According to the investigation, Bardadim hid an ignition device with a clock mechanism in one of the IKEA departments, which was activated at approximately 4:00 a.m. on May 9, 2024. That same night, he reportedly left for Warsaw. Since the fire happened at night, no one was killed or injured. The damage caused by the fire in the store amounted to 485,000 euros. The Prosecutor’s Office of Lithuania called the incident a terrorist act.

On May 13, as reported, Bardadim returned to Lithuania in order to collect from the hiding place the funds intended for another diversion – in the territory of Latvia. On the same day, he was detained on the way to Riga. He was 17 years old at the time of his arrest. It is claimed that as a reward he was promised a BMW 530 car, as well as – together with an accomplice – 10,000 euros.

“The collected data made it possible to conclude that the organizers are Russian military intelligence. In this direction, the investigation has been continued,” said Arturas Urbialis, head of the organized crime investigation department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Lithuania. According to him, the IKEA store was chosen for the terrorist attack not by chance, but because the retail chain left Russia.

Bardadim’s accomplice was detained in Poland, he will be tried there.

Danylo Bardadim is a native of Kherson, he left Ukraine as a minor after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of the country.