Russian spies sent a package of electric sex toys to Western Europe before concealed incendiary devices ignited in British and German DHL depots in what is being described as an alleged test run for a potential US-bound flight attack.
Two incendiary devices had been shipped via a DHL logistics centre on July 22 to Birmingham, England, and Leipzig, Germany, resulting in a fire.
But it has now been revealed that the explosives were reportedly hidden in a shipment containing erotic gadgets and massage pillows, as they were used as cover to smuggle highly dangerous incendiary devices onto cargo routes destined for Western Europe.
Sources have suggested the package in Leipzig was also bound for the UK, but it remains unclear why the UK was the chosen destination for the two devices, originally shipped from Lithuania.
Four people in Poland have been arrested in connection to the July blaze and charged with participating in sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency. Two other individuals are also wanted by investigators in the country.
Images released by the Wall Street Journal, provided by an unnamed European security official, appear to show the massage pillows, suspect and the moment of the explosion.
The only official statement in the UK about the alleged plot was made last month, when counter-terror police confirmed a device had caught fire in Birmingham, nobody was hurt, and it was dealt with ‘by staff and the local fire brigade at the time’.
But investigators believed there could have been far more serious consequences had the camouflaged devices ignited while in flight.
Poland’s prosecutor’s office said: ‘The group’s goal was also to test the transfer channel for such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada.’
Head of Poland’s foreign intelligence agency, Pawel Szota, alo blamed Russia, although the prosecutor’s office statement did not name a foreign government suspected of directing the operations.
British police and officials, as well as their European counterparts in Germany, Poland and Lithuania, also strongly suspect that Russia was behind the attacks as part of an effort to cause ‘mayhem’ in the west in retaliation for western military support to Ukraine.
On Monday, the WSJ reported that the secretive weapons were electronic massagers modified with a flammable magnesium-based substance.
Magnesium-related fires are notoriously challenging to put out and are worsened if water is applied.
But Russia has denied involvement in the alleged plot.
‘These are traditional unsubstantiated insinuations from the media,’ Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the US newspaper.
Delay of the plane was referenced as fortunate, with experts warning there could have been a very different outcome had it taken off on time.
Concerns over Russia’s suspected involvement came as Western officials are increasingly fearing the country may be responsible for similar sabotage acts.
German intelligence service chief Thomas Haldenwang previously said Russian ‘aggression’ was ‘putting people’s lives at risk’ as well as affecting ‘all areas of our free society’.
Mr Haldenwang told a Bundestag committee that had the package ignited after the flight had taken off, the plane would have crashed.
Kremlin aggression is ‘putting people’s lives at risk’ as well as affecting ‘all areas of our free society’, he said.
Foreign intelligence service chief Bruno Kahl added Putin was likely to further ‘test the West’s red lines’, amid the increase in tensions between Russia and Nato over the invasion of Ukraine.
He said there was now a willingness at a ‘previously unknown level’ to attempt sabotage from the Kremlin.
A warehouse in London belonging to a company with links to Ukraine caught fire in a a suspected deliberate attack in March.
Meanwhile in Germany a military base was the target of a suspected attempt to contaminate its drinking water in August.
US intelligence also uncovered a plot to murder Armin Papperger, the CEO of weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall, which has supplied vehicles and ammunition to Ukraine.
And Russia was accused of being behind a fire at a shopping centre in Warsaw by Polish prime minister Donald Tusk.