THE RUSSIA CONNECTIONA Russian Airline Bomb Plot? What We Know About the Polish PM's Accusations
The accusation was as blunt as it was serious: Russia is plotting terror attacks against unspecified targets utilizing aircraft, Poland’s prime minister said. Though shocking, the Polish leader’s comments were not out of the blue: there’s been a growing number of suspicious, alarming, and unexplained incidents in recent months.
The accusation was as blunt as it was serious: Russia is plotting terror attacks against unspecified targets utilizing aircraft, Poland’s prime minister said.
“I will not go into details, I can only confirm the validity of fears that Russia was planning acts of air terror, not only against Poland but against airlines around the world,” Donald Tusk told a news conference on January 15.
Though shocking, the Polish leader’s comments were not out of the blue: there’s been a growing number of suspicious, alarming, and unexplained incidents in recent months. Some involved international airlines, and allegations that Russia was seeking to plant secret explosives on cargo flights; some involving ships that have disrupted undersea cables.
In a growing number of European capitals, meanwhile, it’s increasingly clear who the culprit is and what is going on: Moscow is waging a shadow campaign against the West.
The increasing seriousness of the problem was underscored further by reports that U.S. intelligence officials intercepted communications from Russian military intelligence officials discussing the bomb plot and that President Joe Biden had instructed two top national-security advisers to warn off Russian officials.
Moscow has routinely denied Western accusations of terror attacks, including arson, break-ins, poisoning, and attacks on individuals in the West.
What You Need To Know
Last July, a package shipped from Lithuania unexpectedly ignited at a DHL storage facility in the eastern German town of Leipzig, sparking a fire. The blaze was contained quickly; damage was minimal. It wasn’t the only one.
Around the same time, 1,300 kilometers to the west, a similar incendiary device ignited at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, England. It had arrived on a DHL plane. Also at around the same time, a device at a transport company facility in Jablonow near the Polish capital, Warsaw, also exploded and caught fire. It took firefighters two hours to put it out.
Taken together, the three fires traced a clear pattern — someone was deliberately putting incendiary devices on cargo flights. It all set alarms sounding at law enforcement and intelligence agencies across Europe and North America.
Not Just Bombs
The incendiary packages coincided with news of another incident that’s stoked suspicions.
In early 2024, Armin Papperger, the chief executive officer of German industrial giant Rheinmetall, was the subject of a foiled assassination plot, according to reports by the Financial Times, CNN, and The New York Times.
The company is one of the world’s biggest producers of artillery and tank shells. More importantly, since Russia’s all-out