WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Western security officials say they are behind a plot to place incendiary devices in the cargo of North American-bound cargo planes, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that caught fire at a warehouse in Germany. It is suspected that there was a Russian intelligence agency in the area. England.
Poland announced last month that it had arrested four people on suspicion of involvement in a foreign intelligence operation that carried out subversive activities, and was searching for two others. Lithuania’s Prosecutor General Nida Grunskine said on Tuesday that an unspecified number of people were being detained in several countries, but did not provide details.
The incident comes as Western officials say they are seeing an escalation of the war. Russia’s hybrid destruction war This year, it has targeted Ukraine’s allies, including election disinformation and arson attacks in Europe. The Russian government denied involvement, but several officials said they believed the attack was the work of Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
Poland’s Internal Security Service (ABW) said: incident in polandlike other EU and NATO member states, has intensified this year. ABW believes these are initiated and coordinated by Russian special forces. so far, 20 people were indicted In an investigation led by the Crown Prosecution Service, ABW and the police.
Poland’s prosecutor Katarzyna Karow Jaszewska said the investigation involved damage to critical infrastructure such as industrial facilities, airports, planes and other vehicles, as well as arson using self-flammable packages sent to EU member states and EU countries. said it is focusing on foreign agents who are carrying out acts of sabotage. In the UK, it can catch fire during road or air transport.
She added that the group has tested channels for sending such packages to the United States and Canada.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the details of the cargo plane crash.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has announced that it has implemented additional safety measures for certain cargo shipments bound for the United States in recent months.
“We continually adjust our security posture as appropriate and promptly share all relevant information with our industry partners, including requirements and recommendations to help reduce risk,” TSA said.
There was no active threat targeting U.S.-bound flights, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly.
Dirk Heinrichs, a spokesman for Germany’s DHL, said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that the company could not provide further details on the matter, but “to protect our employees, our network, and our customers’ packages. We are cooperating fully with the relevant authorities.” ”
The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, said last month that Britain was facing an “alarming increase” in assassination attempts, sabotage and other crimes in the country by Russia and Iran.
Kharof Jaszewska said on October 25 that the parcels containing fake explosives were being sent to EU countries and the United Kingdom through a freight company to “test the transport routes for such parcels” that would eventually make their way to the United States and Canada. He said he was sent.
Both the German and British incendiary devices were ignited in July.
German intelligence chief Thomas Haldenwang said one of the men had stopped at a DHL logistics center at Leipzig’s airport. German news agency dpa reported that a connecting flight carrying cargo from one of the Baltic states was delayed in Leipzig and a cargo container caught fire on the ground.
British counter-terrorism police are investigating whether Russian agents were behind the incendiary device inside the package after a July 22 fire at a DHL warehouse in Minworth, near Birmingham, central England. There is. The incident was first reported by the Guardian and German broadcasters. Similar to the German one.
Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza also reported that a fire broke out in a delivery truck near Warsaw.
“We are observing aggressive actions by Russian intelligence services. Russian espionage and sabotage, especially in Germany, is increasing both quantitatively and qualitatively,” Haldenwang said last month. Speaking in the German Bundestag (parliament) while discussing the Leipzig incident.
“The activities of Russian intelligence services in the real world and in cyberspace show that Germany is the focus of Russia’s hybrid war against Western democracies,” he added. “Russia is using its entire toolbox, from influencing Germany’s domestic political debate to cyberattacks and sabotage against critical infrastructure. Russia’s willingness to use force means that It shows that Russia is willing to risk lives.”
In a rare public speech MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum said of the main threats to the UK: “The GRU in particular has an ongoing mission to cause mayhem on the streets of Britain and Europe. We have seen incidents such as arson and sabotage. A dangerous act with increasing recklessness.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that media reports about the alleged sabotage plot were an example of a “vague fabrication.”
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Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Danica Kirka in London, Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Aamer Madani in Washington, D.C., and Liudas Dapkas in Vilnius, Lithuania; contributed.
