The unfolding tale of incendiary devices planted in DHL packages across Europe not only highlights the dangers of Moscow’s campaign of direct measures against the West. It also suggests that, contrary to more alarmist claims, it is possible for such threats to be deterred and limited.
In July of last year, a package bound for Britain ignited in the section of Leipzig airport devoted to DHL cargo freight. Another caught fire later that month in a DHL depot in Birmingham. Two more were found in Poland, one of which set light to a warehouse in Warsaw, while the other was successfully intercepted.
After the US government’s quiet intervention, Moscow did back away
The packages were sent from Lithuania and contained incendiary devices secreted inside massage cushions to avoid easy detection. Suspicion immediately fell on the Russian intelligence services and most recently, accounts have emerged identifying one Colonel Denis Smolyaninov as behind these incendiaries.
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