“Russian intelligence agencies likely planned fires on planes bound for US and Canada — WSJ Nov 5, 1:02 a.m. Share: DHL plane (Photo: Robert / Flickr) Western security officials believe Russia planned fires aboard cargo or passenger planes bound for the USA and Canada. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal on Monday, November 4. In July at the logistics centers of the international delivery company”, — write on: ua.news
DHL plane (Photo: Robert / Flickr)
Western security officials believe that Russia planned to set fire to cargo or passenger planes bound for the United States and Canada. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal on Monday, November 4.
In July, in the logistics centers of the international delivery company DHL in Leipzig, Germany, and Birmingham, England, ignition devices caught fire, which started “a multinational manhunt to find the culprits,” writes the WSJ. In the end, investigators and European intelligence agencies concluded that the arsonists were part of it “of a larger Russian conspiracy”.
The combustible magnesium-based substance was inside the electric massagers. According to security officials, the massagers sent to Great Britain from Lithuania could have been a test run to find out “how to get such devices on board planes bound for North America.”
“The purpose of the group was also to check the channel of transmission of such packages, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Polish law enforcement officers have arrested four people in the fire case – they are suspected of participating in sabotage or terrorist operations of foreign intelligence. At least two more suspects are wanted in cooperation with other countries.
The head of Polish foreign intelligence, Pawel Shota, blamed the operation on Russian spies and said that if such an attack were carried out, it would be a serious escalation on the part of Moscow.
“I’m not sure that Russia’s political leaders are aware of the consequences if one of these packages were to explode, resulting in mass casualties,” Shota said.
According to WSJ interlocutors, incendiary devices that went off in warehouses in July almost hit the planes used by DHL. German police concluded that a fire caused by the devices would be difficult to extinguish using the systems found in most aircraft, and the pilots would have had to make an emergency landing and the plane would have been at risk of crashing.
The Guardian in mid-October reported on “Russian trail’ in the explosion at the DHL warehouse in Birmingham. According to the newspaper, the police suspect that Russian spies could have planted an incendiary device in the plane, which had already gone off in the warehouse.
CNN reported that in early 2024, US intelligence discovered that the Russian government planned to kill Armin Papperger, the CEO of the large German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, which produces artillery shells and military equipment for Ukraine.
The head of the British MI-5, Ken McCallum, said that the intelligence of the aggressor country Russia has set itself a task “constantly wreak havoc on the streets of Great Britain and Europe.” He said that agents of the GRU of the Russian Federation carry out arson, sabotage and “other dangerous actions” in Britain.
In May, the Bloomberg agency wrote that cases of sabotage and espionage, which are probably behind the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Federation, have increased throughout Europe.