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Lithuania Blames GRU-Linked Russians for 2024 Parcel Blasts Across Europe

International warrants follow 15 charges in a Eurojust-led probe spanning Europe plus North America.

Overview

  • Prosecutors named coordinators Daniil Gromov, who also used the identity Jaroslav Mikhailov, and Tomas Dovgan Stabacinskas, with a third suspect, Andrej Baburov, sought under international notices.
  • Four parcels mailed from Vilnius on July 19, 2024, carried improvised explosive-incendiary devices, with incidents recorded at Leipzig Airport, on a DPD truck in Poland, and at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, while one device failed to ignite.
  • Investigators say the devices used electronic timers, were concealed in massage cushions and cosmetic tubes, and contained thermite as the incendiary component.
  • Authorities reported seizing more than six kilograms of explosives and conducting searches in Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia, where additional explosives and detonators were found hidden in canned food containers.
  • Officials previously assessed the mailings as a test of methods to ignite parcels on cargo flights to the United States, with recruits sourced via Telegram and paid in cryptocurrency.