Lithuanian prosecutors say they have uncovered a network of suspects who allegedly detonated explosive packages across Europe on behalf of the Russian secret service.
The suspects are said to have sent packages containing homemade explosive devices to other European countries via courier services, the prosecutor general's office in its capital, Vilnius, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The highly flammable explosive substance, thermite, was allegedly hidden with timed detonators inside massage cushions and tubes of cosmetics.
The packages were then posted by a Lithuanian citizen on July 19th of last year, prosecutors say.
Two shipments were sent from Vilnius to Britain by DHL cargo planes, and the other two were sent to Poland by DPD trucks.
One of them caught fire at the DHL logistics centre in Leipzig, Germany, where it was in transit the statement says.
Another package detonated on July 21 last year in a DPD truck travelling through Poland, and a third the following day in a DHL warehouse in the English city of Birmingham, according to investigators.
The fourth package failed to detonate due to a technical defect, according to the authorities' statement.
Attacks linked to Russia
A total of 15 people — citizens of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine — are suspected of organising and carrying out the alleged attacks.
An international arrest warrant has been issued for three people, the authorities said.
The statement did not say how many people had been arrested in total.
The Lithuanian prosectors said their investigation revealed that the attacks had been organised and coordinated by Russian citizens with links to the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU.
During the investigation, more than 30 searches were carried out in Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia, during which further incendiary devices were found.
European security officials have previously alleged that Russian intelligence is carrying out sabotage against their nations in retaliation for their support for Ukraine in the ongoing war.
AP
