Illustrative photo – United Parcel Service (UPS) aircraft, Photo: Mario Tama / Getty images
Russian intelligence services are likely behind a series of explosive parcels that exploded in courier offices across Europe over the summer, Polish prosecutors said on Friday. The incidents could have caused a plane crash, Polish law enforcement officials said, accusing Moscow of another attempt to destabilise the situation in countries that support Ukraine, Reuters reported .
The explosions at courier offices in the UK, Germany and Poland in July could have had fatal consequences for civil aviation. According to security officials, the ultimate goal of the plotters was to carry out explosions on cargo flights to the United States and Canada.
“The evidence collected indicates a high probability that these acts of sabotage… were inspired by Russian special services,” said Polish prosecutor’s office spokesman Przemysław Nowak in a written statement.
The Russian embassy in Warsaw called the allegations “baseless and unfounded” in response to a Reuters inquiry. Russian authorities have previously denied any involvement in such incidents.
According to Novak, Polish authorities are looking for two Russian citizens and have already detained four Ukrainians as part of the investigation. In October, the Polish prosecutor’s office reported the detention of four people and the search for two more, but did not disclose the nationalities of the suspects at the time.
Back in October, the prosecutor’s office pointed to the possible role of “foreign intelligence” in this case, without naming a specific state. “Intensive measures are being taken to identify other members of this international group,” Novak said, adding that these actions are being carried out in cooperation with law enforcement agencies in other EU countries.
It is also known that the explosive parcels were sent from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, which may indicate a multi-stage delivery network and thorough preparation of the criminals.
This case highlights the risk that Russia poses to Western countries by continuing its policy of hybrid warfare and threats to international aviation security.
