DHL centre targeted in Germany as workers treated for toxic substance
German authorities issued an alert on Friday after at least 13 people were injured after a suspicious package was found at a DHL distribution centre near Nuremberg.
Eight workers required medical attention, according to police spokeswoman Janine Mendel, who warned the number could rise. Several employees complained of health problems. The injured were receiving dermatological treatment for toxic contamination causing skin irritation, according to Ms Mendel.
The initially unknown substance leaked out of a package early on Friday and by 9am several distribution centre employees complained of a rash and itching.
Police, fire department, and hazardous materials specialists responded and the building was evacuated. A decontamination shower – a device that can be used to wash away harmful substances – was set up.
Disposable plotters
Parcels exploded at two DHL depots last July leading to investigations that eventually led to the arrest of alleged low-level operatives hired by Moscow.
Last month, German prosecutors said they had arrested three Ukrainians accused of plotting sabotage attacks on goods shipments for Russia, as an undercover battle of wits plays out between Moscow and Berlin. 'The first impression is of low-level agents – people who ... are recruited for not much money and who then do the job for the Russian state,' said Herbert Reul, interior minister of Germany's North-Rhine Westphalia region. "The individuals had agreed, no later than the end of March 2025, to carry out arson and bomb attacks on freight transport in Germany – acting on behalf of Russian state authorities."
The suspects, detained in Germany and Switzerland, told individuals "believed to be acting on behalf of Russian state authorities" that they were ready "to commit arson and explosive attacks on goods transport in Germany", federal prosecutors said.
The accused allegedly aimed to send packages from Germany containing explosive devices to recipients in Ukraine, which would go off as they were being transported, they said.
Germany has been on high alert for sabotage plots directed from Moscow since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine led to a rapid deterioration in ties.
European intelligence services believed that Russia was behind a plot to plant explosive devices on cargo planes.
In other cases of alleged Russian interference, a former German intelligence officer stands accused of handing sensitive information to Moscow, while Berlin has blamed Moscow for being behind a cyberattack on members of the centre-left SPD party.
Russia has denied being behind such actions.
New Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused Russia of targeting Germany and other European countries, with acts ranging from cyberattacks, espionage and sabotage to disinformation, poison attacks and murders.
Such acts were "overwhelmingly the work of the Russian government and its helpers," he said, accusing Moscow of "attempts at division and destabilisation".
In the latest case on Wednesday, one of the suspects, partially identified as Vladyslav T, posted two test packages in Cologne at the end of March, which contained GPS trackers, prosecutors said.
The order to send them was given by Yevhen B, who provided the contents from the packages via the third suspect, Daniil B.
Europe wide
Police in the UK have arrested four men in relation to an alleged Russian-directed plot against property linked to the country's prime minister.
Three men all linked to Ukraine will go on trial in April accused of involvement in a series of arson attacks on houses and a vehicle in London connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a London court heard on Friday.
Over five days last month, police were called to fires at a house in north London owned by Mr Starmer, another at a property nearby where he used to live, and to a blaze involving a car that also used to belong to the British leader. Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych, 21, is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. Fellow Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, 34, and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, who was born in Ukraine, are accused of conspiracy to commit arson.
The fourth man, aged 48, was arrested at London Stansted Airport in connection with the arson, and was released on police bail.
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