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Lithuania blames Russia for parcels of explosives sent to Europe

Lithuanian presidential adviser says incidents are part of Russian military operations

Nov 5, 2024 18:24 69

Lithuania blames Russia for parcels of explosives sent to Europe  - 1

Russia is behind parcels of explosives sent from Lithuania to European countries, said an adviser to the Lithuanian president, quoted by Reuters and BTA.

Western governments and security services have previously pointed to Moscow as the source of a number of fires and acts of sabotage in Europe aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian allies.

The Polish newspaper “ Gazeta Wyborcha“ reported in October that shipments of explosives that caused fires at courier warehouses in Britain, Germany and Poland in July had left Lithuania.

Britain and Germany are investigating shipments that caught fire at warehouses in Birmingham and Leipzig. Berlin reported that a shipment on a cargo plane caught fire, but a plane crash was avoided.

“We are telling our allies that this is not an accident, it is part of military operations,” Kestutis Budris, adviser to the Lithuanian president, told the “Zinyu” radio.

Budris's comments are the first time a Lithuanian official has publicly accused Russian military intelligence of responsibility for a specific act of sabotage.

Reuters was unable to reach Budris for comment, and the Russian government did not respond to requests for comment either, the news agency said.

The Polish newspaper reported that a parcel caught fire in a truck at a courier company site near the capital Warsaw.

Poland said in October it had detained four people to investigate shipments of explosives sent by courier to European Union member states and Britain. Authorities in Warsaw suspect the existence of a conspiracy, which ultimately aimed to send such shipments to the United States and Canada.

Poland also closed the Russian consulate in Poznan due to suspicions of Russian sabotage attempts. The director-general of Britain's MI5 counterintelligence agency, Ken McCallum, said in October that Russia's military intelligence (GRU) was trying to create "chaos" on the streets of the UK and Europe.