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News24
15-05-2025
- Politics
- News24
Germany arrests 3 Ukrainians trying to send explosive parcels by mail
Germany arrested three Ukrainians over a plot to mail explosive parcels. The parcels were intended for Ukraine, said prosecutors. In 2024, a series of parcels blew up at depots in Britain, Germany and Poland. Three Ukrainians have been arrested over a plot to mail exploding parcels from Germany to Ukraine, prosecutors said, putting Europe's cross-border postal network in the spotlight as a target of suspected Russian sabotage. Together with cases of parcels detonating at European depots in 2024, the arrests added to an air of suspicion in Europe, where intelligence officials have warned of a growing threat from hybrid attacks in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The plot detailed by German prosecutors on Wednesday was described as 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. 'We know that Russia is trying to destabilise Western democracies by all means - including targeted sabotage and perfidious intelligence methods. Our security authorities ... are keeping a close eye on this threat,' German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said in a statement on the arrests. Last summer, a series of parcels blew up at depots in Britain, 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 US. Russia denied any involvement. Those 2024 incidents were reported to have prompted then-president Joe Biden's White House to contact the Kremlin directly to tell it to stop such activity. Under Biden's successor Donald Trump, the US has since pulled back from coordinated efforts to counter alleged Russian sabotage. 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. Last year, authorities warned businesses of the threat and logistics firm DHL took measures to protect its network following several fires at its warehouse in the eastern German city of Leipzig. Thomas Haldenwang, head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, told a parliamentary committee in October that the country had only narrowly escaped a plane crash when an air freight parcel caught fire.
ABC News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
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
New York Times
14-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
3 Are Arrested in Russia-Linked Sabotage Plot, Germany Says
Three Ukrainian men have been arrested in Germany and Switzerland for planning acts of sabotage against infrastructure in Europe on behalf of Russia, the German authorities said Wednesday. The federal prosecutor's office in Berlin said it was investigating the three men, who were arrested over the past five days, for a plan to send incendiary and explosive devices in parcels to addresses in Ukraine. None have been charged. The aim, the prosecutor said in a statement, appeared to be part of a plot to damage logistical infrastructure for commercial freight. The statement did not provide further details about possible targets. One of the men, identified only as Vladyslav T. in accordance with Germany's strict privacy rules, posted two test packages in Cologne containing GPS transmitters in order to trace the route of the packages to Ukraine, the prosecutor said. Another man, Yevhen B., who was arrested Tuesday in Switzerland and will be extradited to Germany, directed that action, the prosecutor said. A third man, Daniil B., delivered the GPS transmitters and other items for the test packages, it said. Authorities are treating the men as foreign agents, and believe they had been directed by Russian state actors, the prosecutor said. Last year, a package exploded at a DHL hub at the airport in Leipzig, in what Western intelligence officials believe was a test run for a plot coordinated by Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU. The fire in Leipzig was followed by a similar fire at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, England, and at a transport company near Warsaw. A Romanian national has since been detained by British police in connection with those fires. Poland has also accused Russia of being behind a fire that wiped out 1,400 small businesses when a shopping mall in Warsaw was almost completely destroyed in May of last year. On Sunday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland accused Russia of being behind the blaze. 'We now know for sure that the great fire of the Marywilska shopping center in Warsaw was caused by arson ordered by the Russian special services,' he wrote on X. The arrests come after several official warnings that Germany has become the target of Russian hybrid attacks. Last year, the authorities charged three Russian-German dual citizens who they believe were hired to carry out acts of sabotage on industrial and military sites. The military has also reported foreign drones flying over training sites where Ukrainian soldiers are being trained. The issue of Russian sabotage in Germany even made it into Chancellor Friedrich Merz's inaugural speech to lawmakers on Wednesday. 'Look at the espionage and sabotage and the systematic disinformation of our population — this is overwhelmingly the work of the Russian government and its helpers, including here,' he said.
Times
14-05-2025
- Times
Ukrainians ‘plotted parcel bomb attacks on behalf of Russia'
Police in Germany and Switzerland have arrested three men on suspicion of being recruited by Russian state authorities to send parcel bombs that were due to explode in transit. The Ukrainian citizens were arrested in Cologne, Konstanz and in the canton of Thurgau in northeastern Switzerland on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday respectively. 'The accused are strongly suspected of agent activity for sabotage purposes,' Jens Rommel, Germany's chief federal prosecutor, said in a statement. 'In this context, they are also accused of agreeing to commit aggravated arson and causing an explosive device to explode.' The suspects, named only as Yevhen B, Daniil B and Vladyslav T, had told one or more people acting on behalf of Russia that they were willing to commit arson and explosives
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Russian parcel bomb plot thwarted
Three Ukrainians have been arrested in Germany and Switzerland on suspicion of planning sabotage attacks with parcel bombs on behalf of Russia. German prosecutors believe that the three male suspects were part of a plot to send explosive devices to their targets via the postal service. According to Der Spiegel magazine, Ukrainian suspects Vladyslav T, Daniil B, and Yevhen B are facing charges of 'agent activity for the purpose of sabotage'. The three male suspects were arrested during police raids in the German cities of Konstanz and Cologne over the weekend, as well as in Switzerland on Tuesday. The full details of the apparent sabotage plot in Germany were not immediately clear, but the trio is said to have carried out test runs sending parcels fitted with GPS devices to Ukraine via addresses in Konstanz and Cologne. This appears to have been part of a scouting exercise to test transport routes, reported Spiegel, which said that German authorities 'presume' the plot was ordered by Moscow. Germany is at the centre of a so-called hybrid war campaign being waged by Russia, which targets key infrastructure such as military sites and factories in revenge for the West's support of Ukraine. Russia is already suspected of ordering sabotage attacks on a factory owned by an arms firm in Berlin, a US military site in Bavaria and a logistics hub in Leipzig. In the most serious case of sabotage, a fire broke out at Leipzig airport inside a container that was due to be loaded onto a DHL cargo plane. Similar fires, caused by firebomb parcels, also broke out at logistics sites in Jablonow, near Warsaw and at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham last year. According to the BBC, Western officials suspect the fires were part of a 'test run' for a more ambitious sabotage attack on cargo flights heading to the United States. Germany is considered a soft target for Russian saboteurs due to a large contingency of Germans who consider themselves pro-Russian, with some deeply nostalgic for the days of the Communist GDR. The German intelligence services are also exploring a theory that a series of terror attacks committed in the run-up to last February's general elections may have been orchestrated by Moscow. It is not the first time that Ukrainian citizens have been linked to sabotage attacks on behalf of Russia. Last year, a Ukrainian teenager was allegedly hired by Russian agents to carry out an arson attack on a branch of Ikea in the Baltic state of Lithuania.
