Report: Russia Plotted to Set Fire to Planes Headed to U.S. and Canada

Russia shipped two incendiary devices via dhl with the aim to set fires to cargo or passenger aircraft flying to the United States and Canada, the Wall Street Journal said based on reports from Western security officials on November 4.

This marks the most recent uncovered Russian plot against the West as tensions rise between the two power blocs.

Details: The two devices exploded in July at dhl logistics hubs in Leipzig, Germany, and in Birmingham, England. Since then, investigators have been searching for those responsible.

Investigators found that the devices—electric massagers implanted with flammable substances—were sent from Lithuania to the United Kingdom as a test run to figure out how to get such flammables on planes bound for North America.

The group’s goal was … to test the transfer channel for such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada.
—Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office

Lithuanian police have arrested a suspect who sent such devices from a dhl shop in Vilnius and is believed to be a proxy used by Russian spy services. Authorities in Poland arrested four others suspected of working with the Russian intelligence agency in connection to the fires.

Rising superpower: Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has worked hard to restore itself as a major world power. While doing so, it has grown more belligerent and bolder in its actions against the West, often using former Soviet states to carry out its plots.

To learn more about Russia’s rise, read our Trends article “Why the Trumpet Watches Russia’s Return to Superpower Status.”