Russia wanted to carry out terrorist attacks on foreign civilian aircraft

The Wall Street Journal, citing Western intelligence agencies, said that Russia had attempted to carry out terrorist attacks on civilian aircraft using small incendiary devices sent via DHL.

Here's What We Know

According to reports, the aim of the attack was to cause fires on planes travelling to the United States and Canada.

As a reminder, in July, fires broke out at DHL's logistics centres in Germany and the UK due to special devices built into parcels.

Investigators and intelligence agencies in Europe found that these devices containing a flammable magnesium-based substance were hidden inside electric massagers.

The Wall Street Journal, citing European experts familiar with the investigation, notes that these devices were part of a broader operation conducted by Russia. It is believed that the electric massagers sent to the UK from Lithuania could have been a test attempt to see how to bring such incendiary devices on board planes flying to North America.

By the way, Poland recently arrested four people in connection with the fires and charged them with participating in sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of foreign intelligence.

"The group's goal was also to check the channel of transmission of such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States and Canada," the Polish prosecutor's office said.

The head of Polish foreign intelligence, Pawel Szota, said that Russian spies were to blame, and such an attack, if carried out, would have been a serious escalation in Moscow's campaign against the West.

Source: The Wall Street Journal