Mysterious parcel fires were ‘test runs’ to target US-bound cargo planes, Poland says

A series of parcel fires targeting courier companies in Poland, Germany and the UK were dry spells aimed at destroying flights to the US and Canada, Polish prosecutors said.

Katarzyna Calow-Jaszewska revealed at the end of last month that four people had been arrested and authorities across Europe were investigating the incidents.

Western security officials have now told US media that they believe the fires – which took place in July – were part of an operation organized by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.

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

Ms Calow-Jaszewska said in a statement that a group of foreign intelligence agencies were involved in sending parcels containing hidden explosives and dangerous materials through courier companies. The packages then burst into flames or explode.

Western officials believe the fire originated from electric massagers containing a “magnesium-based” substance.

Magnesium-based fires are difficult to put out, especially on an airplane.

“The purpose of the group was to test the channel for transferring parcels, which were eventually sent to the United States of America and Canada,” said Ms. Calow-Jaszewska.

Some of the machines are from Lithuania, and the chief prosecutor Nida Grunskiene said that some have been arrested there as well. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing and law enforcement agencies from other countries are also participating, he told reporters.

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

The incident that took place in Jablonow near Warsaw took two hours to put out, according to Polish reports.

UK officials have given few details about the fire on Midpoint Way in Minworth on 22 July. A Met Police spokeswoman confirmed that a counter-terrorism investigation was ongoing after the package was intercepted at a commercial site, adding that it was being “handled by staff and local firefighters”.

Ken McCallum, the head of the UK’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, said last month that Russian secret agents had committed “arson, vandalism and more. Dangerous acts carried out with increasing recklessness” after the UK helped Ukraine in its war against Russia. His allegations were completely dismissed by the Kremlin.

It is important to distinguish the known facts from the allegations made and the allegations made by Western officials.

What is certain is that this year there have been a rash of suspicious fires at warehouses in the UK, Germany and Poland – suspicious enough to prompt an investigation by the counter-terrorism police.

There have been other incidents across Europe as well last month a man was convicted at the Old Bailey under the new National Security Act for an 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 lucky that the Leipzig machine was not blown up.

BfV head Thomas Haldenwang described the machine that started the fire at the DHL logistics center at Leipzig-Halle airport as suspected sabotage by Russia.

Taken together, these events lead Western governments to conclude that the Russian military intelligence agency GRU may have launched a systematic campaign of anonymous, covert attacks in those countries that support Ukraine.

The package that burst into flames in Leipzig is thought to have arrived from Lithuania and its onward flight was delayed.

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

DHL has increased security since the latest cargo fire. “DHL Express has taken measures in all European countries to protect its network, its staff and facilities, as well as its customers’ shipments,” a spokesperson said a few weeks ago.

The Polish government has responded to allegations of Russian sabotage, with Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announcing the closure of the Russian embassy in Poznan and threatening to expel the Russian ambassador if it fails to end its attack.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move as a “hostile step that will face a harsh response”.