Russia suspected of plotting to send US incendiary devices via air cargo

WARSAW – European and US intelligence officials believe Russia is behind a plan that would ultimately place incendiary devices on planes to North America through air cargo, according to people familiar with the matter.

Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office said on its website that it is investigating the alleged involvement of a foreign intelligence service in sabotage activities on the territory of Poland and other European Union states as well as Britain, but did not specify Russia as the perpetrator.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov 4 on Moscow’s alleged goal of ultimately targeting the US.

The authorities are taking the incidents seriously and intelligence agencies are expecting Moscow to try and stage similar acts of sabotage in the future, one of the people said. They asked not to be named discussing the intelligence matter.

Poland’s interior minister said the moves fit Russia’s pattern.

“The year 2024 brought various acts of sabotage in Poland and other European countries,” Mr Tomasz Siemoniak said. “Our intelligence services and prosecutors have no doubt that Russian clients are behind this. The attempts to place explosives into courier shipments fit into the logic of Russian sabotage and do raise the threat up to a new level.”

As part of the investigation started on Aug 5, the authorities have arrested four people linked to a sabotage group, whose activities included sending parcels containing camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials via courier firms to countries in the EU and Britain. 

The parcels would ignite or detonate during land or air transport. “The group’s goal was to test the transfer channel for this type of shipments, which were ultimately to be sent to the US and Canada,” said the statement.

Ms Alexa Lopez, a spokeswoman for the US Transportation Security Administration, said that “over the past several months, as part of a multi-layered security approach, TSA worked with industry partners to put additional security measures for US aircraft operators and foreign air carriers regarding certain cargo shipments bound for the United States”.

Governments across Europe have been raising the alarm over a growing threat of Russia-sponsored acts of sabotage and destabilisation since the Kremlin launched its

full-scale invasion of Ukraine

more than 2½ years ago. Russia has denied involvement in such efforts.

Earlier in 2024, the US warned its allies that Russia was targeting cargo shipping companies as it sought to disrupt Ukraine’s partners, according to people familiar with the matter. The Russian Foreign Ministry did not reply to a request for comment then.

German security authorities have concluded that their country only narrowly escaped a plane crash caused by an incendiary package in an air foreign parcel that was probably planted by Russia. By chance, they said, the

parcel caught fire on the ground during a delay

at a DHL logistics centre in July in Leipzig and not during a flight.

In October, Poland ordered the closing of Russia’s consulate in the city of Poznan due to alleged sabotage attempts. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the move as hostile and pledged a forceful response, according to the state-run RIA Novosti agency.

Poland has become the main thoroughfare for Western military aid heading to Ukraine since the start of the conflict. Still, there are tensions between the two countries, with Poland’s top diplomat making a show in October of putting the brakes on Ukraine’s ambitions for fast-track ascension to the European Union.

A DHL spokesperson said the firm is cooperating with the authorities. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Berlin declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation. BLOOMBERG