Poland said the mysterious parcel fire was a ‘test run’ aimed at cargo flights to the US

Polish prosecutors say a series of parcel fires targeting courier companies in Poland, Germany and Britain were aimed at sabotaging flights to the US and Canada.

Katarzyna Calow-Jaszewska revealed late last month that four people had been arrested and that authorities across Europe were investigating the case.

Western security officials now tell US media that they believe the fires – which occurred in July – were part of an operation orchestrated by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.

Russia denies being behind the acts of sabotage. But it is suspected of being behind other attacks on warehouses and rail networks in EU member states this year, including in Sweden and the Czech Republic.

Ms Calow-Jaszewska said in a statement that a foreign intelligence sabotage group was involved in sending parcels containing explosives and dangerous materials through courier companies. The parcels then spontaneously caught fire or exploded.

Western officials believe the fire originated from electric massage machines containing “magnesium-based” substances.

Magnesium fires are difficult to extinguish, especially on aircraft.

“The team’s goal is also to examine the delivery channel for such parcels, which will eventually be sent to the United States and Canada,” Ms. Calow-Jaszewska said.

Some of the equipment originated in Lithuania, and prosecutor general Nida Grunskiene said there had also been arrests there. She told reporters that a pre-trial investigation is underway and that law enforcement agencies from other countries are participating.

On three days in July, fires broke out in a container due to be loaded onto a DHL cargo plane in the German city of Leipzig, at a shipping company near Warsaw and at Minworth near Birmingham, UK, involving to a package described as an incendiary device.

According to Polish reports, the incident in Jablonow near Warsaw took two hours to be extinguished.

British officials have given few details about the fire at Midpoint Way in Minworth on July 22. A Met Police spokesman confirmed that a counter-terrorism investigation is underway after a package at a commercial premises caught fire, adding that “the incident was handled by staff and the local fire brigade”.

Ken McCallum, head of Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence agency, said last month that Russian agents had carried out “arson, sabotage etc. Dangerous acts were carried out with increasing recklessness.” increased” after Britain helped Ukraine in its war with Russia. His accusations were flatly rejected by the Kremlin.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said in recent months it has applied additional security measures to certain goods arriving in the United States transported by U.S. and foreign airlines. .

A US government official also added that there are currently no threats targeting flights to the US.

It is important to separate the known facts from the accusations made and the suspicions of Western officials.

What is beyond doubt is that this year has seen a series of suspicious fires at warehouses in the UK, Germany and Poland – so suspicious that they prompted counter-terrorism police to investigate.

There have been other incidents across Europe and Last month a man was sentenced at the Old Bailey under the new National Security Act over the arson attack on a Ukrainian-owned business in Leyton, east London, in March.

In Germany, the head of the domestic intelligence agency (BfV) said it was only thanks to luck that the Leipzig device did not catch fire in mid-air.

BfV head Thomas Haldenwang described the device that caught fire at the DHL logistics center at Leipzig-Halle airport as suspected Russian sabotage.

Taken together, these events are leading Western governments to conclude that there is a strong possibility that Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency has embarked on a systematic campaign of covert, anonymous attacks. to countries helping Ukraine.

The package that caught fire in Leipzig is believed to have come from Lithuania and its onward flight has been delayed.

The device that caught fire at Minworth is also believed to have come from Lithuania, where the head of parliament’s defense and security committee, Arvydas Pocius, said it was part of an ongoing joint attack campaign aimed at ” causing chaos, panic and distrust.”

DHL has increased security since the recent cargo fire. “DHL Express has taken measures in all European countries to protect its network, employees and facilities as well as customer shipments,” a spokesman said a few weeks ago.

The Polish government has responded to accusations of Russian sabotage, with Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announcing the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan and threatening to expel the Russian ambassador if the country does not end the attacks.

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the move as “a hostile step that will meet with a painful reaction”.