German police arrest three men over alleged Russian parcel bomb plot
Three Ukrainian nationals have been arrested over an alleged Russian sabotage plot to mail exploding parcels from Germany to Ukraine.
It follows high-profile cases of parcels detonating at European transport depots last year and numerous other suspected Russian sabotage attempts across the continent.
Intelligence officials have in recent years warned of a growing threat from hybrid attacks in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, German prosecutors released details of the alleged plot, in which the three men sent two parcels in late March.
Authorities said it was a test run involving GPS trackers to scope out routes for future arson and bombing attacks.
The suspects are believed to have been in contact with individuals working for Russian state institutions, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
Two of the men, identified in line with German privacy laws only as Vladyslav T and Daniil B, were arrested over the weekend in Germany.
Another, identified as Yevhen B, was taken into custody on Tuesday in Switzerland.
The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrests.
"We know that Russia is trying to destabilise Western democracies by all means — including targeted sabotage and perfidious intelligence methods," German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said in a statement on the arrests.
"Our security authorities … are keeping a close eye on this threat."
Last summer, a series of parcels blew up at depots in the UK, Germany and Poland. Security officials later said the parcels were part of a test run for a Russian plot to trigger explosions on cargo flights to the United States.
Russia denied any involvement.
German prosecutors declined to comment on any connection between the latest case and the incidents of last summer.
They did not specify whether the two parcels sent by the Ukrainian suspects were intended for air or overland transport.
The three Ukrainian nationals had prepared two "test parcels" containing GPS trackers to be sent from Cologne in western Germany in late March after telling one or more Russian state actors that they were prepared to carry out attacks, according to the prosecutors' statement.
Investigators believe the parcels were intended to scout out possible routes.
The Swiss Justice Ministry said Germany had requested extradition of the suspect arrested in Switzerland, but declined to give further details.
This alleged plot is part of a wider accusation by European nations of Russian sabotage, which western intelligence services link to European support for Ukraine.
On the weekend, Polish authorities alleged Russian government institutions were behind a Warsaw shopping centre fire which broke out in May last year.
Russian involvement is also suspected in another shopping centre fire at an IKEA in Lithuania.
It has also been accused of severing undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.
ABC/Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Usyk wants Trump to 'live in his house' to witness war
World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has offered Donald Trump the chance to live in his house in a bid to help the United States president understand the war in Ukraine. Trump had vowed to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine "in 24 hours" if he was elected president. But there has been no end to Russia's invasion since Trump returned to the White House in 2024. Ukrainian boxer Usyk, who has been a tireless campaigner for peace in his homeland, believes Trump needs to have a clearer view of the dire situation if he is to find a solution to the crisis. The 38-year-old has urged the president to join him at his house in Ukraine to see for himself the damage done by the war. "I advise American President Donald Trump to come to Ukraine and live in my house for one week," Usyk told BBC Sport on Sunday. "Only one week. I will give him my house. Live please in Ukraine and watch what is going on every night. "Every night there are bombs and flights above my house. Bombs, rocket. Every night. It's enough." Trump clashed with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky during a contentious summit meeting in the Oval Office in February. Trump warned Zelensky to show more gratitude for America's help in peace talks before telling him to leave the White House. Asked if Trump could be convinced to change his opinion, Usyk said: "I don't know. Maybe he'll understand, maybe he won't." Usyk, who has won all 23 of his professional bouts, is currently in a training camp to prepare for a rematch with IBF champion Daniel Dubois on July 19 at Wembley. But the WBC, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion said the war is never far from his mind. "I worry about what happens in my country. It's very bad because Ukrainian people have died," he said. "It's not just military people, children, women, grandmothers and grandfathers, too."
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- News.com.au
Russia says pushing offensive into Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region
Russia said Sunday it was pushing into Ukraine's eastern industrial Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in its three-year offensive -- a significant territorial escalation amid stalled peace talks. Moscow, which has the initiative on the battlefield, has repeatedly refused calls by Ukraine, Europe and US President Donald Trump for a full and unconditional ceasefire. At talks in Istanbul last week it demanded Kyiv pull troops back from the frontline, agree to end all Western arms support and give up on its ambitions to join the NATO military alliance. Dnipropetrovsk is not among the five Ukrainian regions over which Russia has asserted a formal territorial claim. It is an important mining and industrial hub for Ukraine and deeper Russian advances into the region could have a serious knock-on effect for Kyiv's struggling military and economy. Dnipropetrovosk was estimated to have a population of around three million people before Russia launched its offensive. Around one million people lived in the regional capital, Dnipro. Russia's defence ministry said forces from a tank unit had "reached the western border of the Donetsk People's Republic and are continuing to develop an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region." The advance of Russian forces into yet another region of Ukraine is both a symbolic and strategic blow to Kyiv's forces afer months of setbacks on the battlefield. There was no immediate response from Ukraine to Russia's statement. Moscow in 2022 said it was annexing the frontline Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it did not have full control over. In 2014, it seized the Crimean peninsula following a pro-EU revolution in Kyiv. In a set of peace demands issued to Ukraine at the latest talks, it demanded formal recognition that these regions were part of Russia -- something Kyiv has repeatedly ruled out. - Strategic setback - Tens of thousands have been killed in Russia's three-year offensive, millions forced to flee their homes and cities and villages across eastern Ukraine devastated by relentless air attacks and ground combat. In more than a decade of conflict with Kremlin-backed separatists and the Russian army, Ukraine has never had to fight on the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region until now. Ukrainian military personnel previously told AFP that Russia could advance relatively quickly in the largely flat region, given there are fewer natural obstacles or villages that could be used as defensive positions by Kyiv's forces. The region -- and in particular the city of Dnipro -- have been under persistent Russian strikes for the last three years. Russia used Dnipro as a testing ground for its "experimental" Oreshnik missile in late 2024, claiming to have struck an aeronautics production facility. Earlier on Sunday local Ukrainian officials said one person was killed in the region in an attack on a village close to the frontline.
News.com.au
17 hours ago
- News.com.au
Italy holds referendum on citizenship, workers' rights
Italians vote on Sunday and Monday in a referendum on easing citizenship rules and strengthening labour laws, with Giorgia Meloni's government opposing both changes and urging people to abstain. A non-EU adult resident without marriage or blood ties to Italy must currently live in the country for 10 years before they can apply for citizenship -- a process which can then take years. The referendum proposal, triggered by a grassroots campaign led by NGOs, would cut this to five years, putting Italy in line with Germany and France. Campaigners say around 2.5 million people could benefit from the reform, which is being backed by the centre-left Democratic Party. Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party has prioritised cutting illegal immigration even while increasing the number of legal work visas for migrants, is strongly against it. She said Thursday that the current system "is an excellent law, among the most open, in the sense that we have for years been among the European nations that grant the highest number of citizenships each year". More than 213,500 people acquired Italian citizenship in 2023, double the number in 2020 and one fifth of the European Union total, according to EU statistics. More than 90 percent were from outside the bloc, mostly from Albania and Morocco, as well as Argentina and Brazil -- two countries with large Italian immigrant communities. Ministers agreed in March to restrict the rights to citizenship of those with blood ties to Italy from four to two generations. Meloni and her coalition partners have encouraged voters to boycott the referendum, which will only be valid if 50 percent of eligible voters plus one participate. Even if it passes, the reform will not affect the migration law many consider the most unfair, that children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot request nationality until they reach 18. Prominent rapper Ghali, who was born in Milan to Tunisian parents, has been an outspoken advocate changing the law for children, but nevertheless urged fans to back Sunday's vote as a step in the right direction. "With a 'Yes' we ask that five years of life here are enough, not 10, to be part of this country," he wrote on Instagram. - Interests of workers - Under Italy's constitution, a referendum can be triggered by a petition signed by at least 500,000 voters. This week's ballot includes one question on citizenship and four others on increasing protections for workers who are dismissed, in precarious situations or involved in workplace accidents. The changes are being pushed by the left-wing CGIL trade union. "We want to reverse a culture that has prioritised the interests of business over those of workers," CGIL general secretary Maurizio Landini told AFP. The Democratic Party is also backing the proposals -- even if it introduced some of the laws the CGIL wants to repeal while in office in the past. The proposals are notably aimed at measures of the so-called Jobs Act, passed a decade ago by the government of the Democratic Party prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in order to liberalise the labour market. Supporters say the act boosted employment but detractors say it made work more precarious. Under new leadership, the Democratic Party -- which is polling at around 23 percent, behind Meloni's Brothers of Italy at about 30 percent, according to an SWG survey this week -- is seeking to woo working-class voters by backing the referendum reform.
