Poland arrests suspected DHL bomb-planters

Four suspects were detained in Poland on charges of endangering DHL freighters and their crew with parcel bombs. Two other suspects are still being searched for internationally, a spokesperson of the Polish public prosecutor’s office told a local news agency. Poland’s government has now openly accused Russian secret services of orchestrating the attacks. As consequence, it closed the Russian consulate in Poznan.

Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski ordered the shutdown of a Russian Consulate in Poland on allegation of espionage.  Photo: Gov PL

According to the investigators’ findings, the group is said to have sent packages containing hidden explosives and other dangerous materials to fake recipients in EU member states, including transits via UK airports destined for Canada and the U.S. Various courier services were involved in the supply chain of the parcel bombs in order to disguise the shipment’s tracks. The packages were prepared in such a way that they could autonomously ignite or explode while airborne or being trucked.

The Polish authorities hope for more details
In connection with the arrests, the Polish security services did not provide any information as to whether a parcel bomb sent by the suspects via DHL Express, had exploded or caught fire during transportation. Furthermore, the public prosecutor’s office did not disclose if the detainees were Polish citizens or foreigners living there. In addition to the attempted attacks, the perpetrators also aimed to test the routing of the shipments containing explosives on their way between Europe and North America, to reconnoiter transit points and running times.

Hybrid war
The arrest of the four suspects is the second blow struck by investigating authorities against saboteurs who apparently have DHL Express in their crosshairs. On 19SEP24, a Lithuanian national was arrested by local security forces who had identified him as dispatcher of parcel bombs. The man is said to have tried to disguise his identity with the help of fake postal addresses, fantasy names, and false information about the recipients of the shipments. An accomplice was simultaneously arrested in Poland. Earlier, a parcel bomb sent by the suspects to an unknown consignor and flown by DHL Express via its hub Leipzig Airport, ignited on the apron during transfer to a commuting aircraft, fortunately not harming local ground workers or causing serious damage, CFG reported.

Almost simultaneously, a package transported by DHL Express exploded in Minworth near Birmingham, UK.Ken McCallum, the head of Britain’s MI5 warned that Russia’s GRU military intelligence appeared to be on “a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more”, see here.

Operatives paid by the Kremlin
Confronted with these and similar allegations, the Putin regime repeatedly denied any sabotage activities, but blamed accusers of spreading conspiracy theories.

The government in Warsaw takes a very different view. On Tuesday (22OCT24), Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski ordered the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Poznan. He justified the measure by suspected Russian attempts at sabotage. Sikorski said that the southwestern Polish city plays a key role as hub for the transport of military supplies to Ukraine, which has made it a target for Russian espionage and acts of sabotage and arson. The decision to shut the consulate follows a court case involving a 51-year-old Ukrainian citizen recruited by Russian intelligence and accused of planning to set fire to a paint factory in Wroclaw.

Russian state-owned news agency, RIA Novosti quoted the Kremlin’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, as calling the move “another hostile step”. She promised the Polish government “a painful response.”

Western officials believe operatives paid by Russia are behind a series of crimes and hostile hybrid actions across Europe, including break-ins and arson at factories and critical infrastructure, physical attacks and even a reported assassination plot against Armin Papperger, the CEO of Germany’s largest arms producer, Rheinmetall. The national secret service prevented the assassination attempt.

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