Russia is responsible for an operation aimed at igniting fires on cargo or passenger aircraft bound for North America, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Western security officials.
The newspaper reported on November 5 that the devices that ignited in July in depots of global courier DHL in the British city of Birmingham and the German city of Leipzig were part of a test run in the Russian plot.
Last month, Polish officials said four people had been detained as a result of the investigation into parcels that caught fire while being sent by courier in Europe and bound for the United States and Canada.
"The group's activities consisted of sabotage and diversion related to sending parcels containing camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials via courier companies to European Union countries and Great Britain, which spontaneously ignited or detonated during land and air transport," Polish prosecutors said in an October 25 statement.
"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," the statement said, adding that foreign intelligence services were to blame, though it did not directly accuse Russia of involvement.
Reuters quoted Kestutis Budrys, a national security adviser to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, as saying on November 5 that the parcels were "part of unconventional kinetic operations against NATO countries that are being undertaken by the Russian military intelligence."
Russia has not commented on the report.
The report came on the day U.S. voters are heading to the polls in a presidential election. However, the Wall Street Journal did not tie the parcels directly to the balloting.
Many Western intelligence agencies have accused Moscow of involvement in sabotage acts in Europe, which they have said are targeted at destabilizing allies of Ukraine, where Russia is fighting a war after launching the full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
