Western security officials told NBC News that Russia destroyed DHL logistics hubs in Germany and the United Kingdom in July as part of a broader sabotage campaign aimed at potentially starting fires on board planes bound for North America. He was responsible for sending two incendiary devices to the
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the alleged plot.
Polish authorities have arrested four people and are searching for two more in connection with the incident, according to government officials and Polish media.
DHL said in an email that it is “aware of two recent incidents involving shipments within our network” and is cooperating with law enforcement authorities.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said it has increased inspections of air cargo over the past few months.
A U.S. official said federal authorities remain vigilant for threats to aviation and air cargo systems, adding: “At this time, there are no active threats targeting U.S.-bound flights.”
The White House National Security Council and the CIA declined to comment.
German and British authorities have announced that they are investigating two incidents in July on suspicion of sabotage by Russia. A package en route to a plane exploded at a DHL distribution center in Leipzig before the scheduled flight departed. Also in July, a package went up in flames at a DHL center in Birmingham, England.
Western officials said the package contained an electric massager containing a magnesium-based flammable substance.
Poland’s State Prosecutor’s Office said the saboteur’s aim was to “test the route of transfer of such packages that were ultimately destined for the United States and Canada.”
Last month, Germany’s head of domestic intelligence, Thomas Haldenwang, told German lawmakers that it was “sheer luck that one of the booby-trapped packages caught fire on the ground and not during the plane’s flight.” said. He said the incident was a “particularly high risk.” “
British counterterrorism police, which is investigating the incident, declined to comment on the DHL incident.
In recent months, U.S., British, German and other European officials have accused Russia of orchestrating an increasingly aggressive sabotage campaign aimed at undermining and disrupting Western support for Ukraine. I am doing it.
European and British authorities said sabotage attempts included plots to bomb and burn German military bases, attempts to hack and disrupt Europe’s railway signaling networks, and jamming civil aviation GPS systems. It is. Officials said the physical sabotage coincided with a coordinated disinformation campaign by Moscow to undermine political support for Kiev in the West.
Ken McCallum, head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, said in a speech on October 8 that Russia was hiring private intelligence agents and criminals to do its “dirty work.”
Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency “has an ongoing mission to cause mayhem on the streets of Britain and Europe, among others, and has witnessed incidents such as arson and sabotage. Dangerous acts are being carried out with increasing recklessness.” “There are,” McCallum said.
Russia has repeatedly rejected Western claims that it is orchestrating subversive activities in Europe.
Grace Jaworski, Jean-Nicholas Fievet, and Ewa Galica contributed.
