Germany 'foils Russian plot to bomb transport network in sabotage attacks' as European spy ring is dismantled
German police have foiled an apparent Russian sabotage attack on Europe's transport networks, with four people charged with involvement in a plot to send out parcel bombs.
Three Ukrainian citizens, named as Vladyslav T, 24, his partner Lolita K, and Daniil B, 21, were arrested in Germany in connection with the operation and had their communication devices and computer storage devices seized for investigation.
A fourth individual named Yevhen B., who is believed to be the 'handler' who issued the orders to the Germany-based cohort, was detained in the Swiss canton of Thurgau and is due to appear before a judge after being transferred to Germany.
German and Swiss authorities suspect all four of being spies operating on behalf of Russia, with their alleged plan to send incendiary devices and explosives in parcel shipments reminiscent of recent sabotage attacks in Europe which the West has blamed on Moscow.
The suspects are said to have already sent two test packages containing GPS trackers to determine where the explosions could cause the most damage.
It is also believed that the alleged saboteurs planned to use the chemical thermite in incendiary devices, which can cause huge fires as it reaches temperatures of up to 2,400 degrees Celsius.
It is unclear whether the Ukrainian citizens, who were arrested in Cologne and Konstanz, were even aware of who they were working for.
Germany's BILD reported that investigators said the detainees were 'low-level agents' at the very bottom of the chain of command, according to investigative sources.
But their dastardly plan appears to fit perfectly with the established modus operandi of Russian security services in today's age of hybrid warfare in which 'handlers' recruit foreign spies - often petty criminals, drifters or financially desperate citizens - to carry out operations in a plausibly deniable manner.
According to investigators from North Rhine-Westphalia police and German security services, the alleged Russian spies had planned to send their incendiary devices via a private postal service called Nova Poshta.
Nova Poshta is a delivery service headquartered in Ukraine but with operations throughout Eastern and Central Europe and allows customers to send packages of up to 30 kilograms in weight - more than enough for small incendiary devices.
Investigators acted after receiving a tip-off to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution about Vladislav T, and began surveilling his movements in Cologne close to the apartment he shared with Lolita K.
In the course of their investigations, they also uncovered the alleged involvement of Daniil B, who was living at a refugee centre in Konstanz, and Yevhen B. in Switzerland.
Their planned operation reportedly bore all the hallmarks of another attack last July, when packages sitting in depots managed by courier company DHL in Birmingham and the German city of Leipzig suddenly erupted into flames.
At first glance the boxes, originating from Lithuania, contained a host of items that included sex toys, massage pillows and cosmetics.
Investigators soon uncovered a more troubling layer to the saga when another package, shipped from the same Lithuanian origin point, failed to detonate and was intercepted at a Polish depot.
Inside, forensic specialists discovered a crude yet effective ignition mechanism concealed within the casing of yet another erotic gadget, along with traces of an incendiary gel designed to ignite on contact with air.
Polish security services arrested four people in connection with the blazes and charged them with participating in sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency.
Before long it emerged that they were suspected of involvement in a Russian-backed plot to distribute the explosive packages throughout Europe. It is suspected the incidents were test runs for a plot to target US-bound flights.
One of the alleged couriers was revealed in a recent investigation by the Guardian as Alexander Bezrukavyi, a Russian national with a criminal record and murky ties to Eastern European smuggling networks.
Bezrukavyi had vanished soon after the parcels were mailed but was eventually captured in Bosnia, where he was on the run and attempting to reach Russia using forged documents.
Bezrukavyi and his associates are believed to have been recruited via the Telegram messaging app by an account known only as 'VWarrior' that was offering hundreds of dollars for seemingly simple courier assignments.
The proposition was simple: purchase a list of items, package them and either deliver them or send them via a courier to another destination in Poland or Lithuania.
One associate of Bezrukavyi said: 'It could be true that the purpose of the parcels was sinister... We just wanted easy money, work that wouldn't involve drugs or weapons.
'It turned out to be some packages to test some f***ed up ****,' the man, who is still on the run, told the Guardian.
Had the incendiary packages reached their destinations, or worse, been loaded onto aircraft, the consequences could have been catastrophic.
Dr Samuel Ramani, an expert at leading defence and security think tank RUSI, told MailOnline that, had a package caught fire or exploded on a passenger jet to the States, an 'all-out confrontation' between Washington and Moscow may have followed.
When asked if people should be fearful of the threat posed by such operations, Dr Ramani said: 'Yes, people should be very vigilant - they should not take such a threat less seriously than ISIS or any other terror group.
'They are terrorists in the same way, very serious intent, strategic action, not just a rogue action, criminal for hire, this is a state-sponsored operation.'
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