Authorities across Europe are investigating a series of suspicious fires believed to be linked to a coordinated campaign by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. Katarzyna Calow-Jaszewska, a Polish official, revealed last month that four individuals had been arrested in connection with the incidents, which primarily occurred in July.
Western security officials have indicated to U.S. media outlets that the fires, which involved parcels containing hidden explosives, were part of a broader strategy of sabotage orchestrated by Russian operatives. While Russia has denied any involvement in these incidents, the GRU is suspected of being behind other attacks targeting warehouses and railway networks in EU member states, including Sweden and the Czech Republic, earlier this year.
Calow-Jaszewska stated that the fires were initiated by foreign intelligence saboteurs who sent parcels through courier services. These packages, which contained a magnesium-based substance, reportedly ignited spontaneously, creating dangerous situations, especially on board cargo planes. Magnesium fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish.
The investigation has focused on three separate days in July when fires erupted in containers slated for loading onto a DHL cargo plane in Leipzig, Germany; at a transport company near Warsaw, Poland; and in Minworth, UK. In Warsaw, firefighters took two hours to control the blaze, which Polish reports characterized as an incendiary device.
While UK officials have been tight-lipped about the Minworth incident on July 22, it has been reported that counter-terrorism police are investigating whether Russian spies planted the incendiary device that caught fire at a DHL warehouse. Ken McCallum, head of MI5, the UK’s domestic intelligence agency, accused Russian agents of engaging in increasingly reckless acts of arson and sabotage, particularly following the UK’s support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. The Kremlin has categorically rejected these allegations.
This year has seen a troubling rise in suspicious fires at cargo depots across the UK, Germany, and Poland, prompting counter-terrorism investigations. Recently, a man was convicted under the UK’s National Security Act for an arson attack on a Ukrainian-owned business in Leyton, east London.
Thomas Haldenwang, head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency (BfV), warned that it was sheer luck that the incendiary device in Leipzig did not ignite while in transit. He described the incident as suspected Russian sabotage, adding to the concerns of Western governments.
The devices involved in these incidents are believed to have originated from Lithuania, with Arvydas Pocius, head of Lithuania’s parliamentary national security and defense committee, asserting that they are part of a hybrid campaign aimed at instilling chaos, panic, and mistrust.
In response to these threats, DHL has ramped up security measures across Europe to safeguard its network, employees, and customers’ shipments. Meanwhile, the Polish government has taken action against alleged Russian interference, with Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announcing the closure of a Russian consulate in Poznan and warning of potential expulsion of the Russian ambassador if hostilities do not cease. Russia’s foreign ministry has condemned these actions as “hostile,” promising a “painful response.”
