Incendiary devices linked to Russian saboteurs spark firebomb at Birmingham DHL in possible US plot test
An apparent firebomb attack at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham has been linked to a larger Russian-backed sabotage plot, suggesting the incident may have been a test run for a potential attack in the US.
The investigation stems from the discovery of parcels containing incendiary devices sent through various courier companies to countries including the UK, leading to four arrests in Poland.
Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that parcels “containing explosives” were allegedly shipped across Europe, igniting concern among counter-terrorism officials in multiple countries. The UK’s Counter Terrorism Policing unit is currently investigating a July incident at a DHL facility in Minworth, Birmingham, where a suspicious package caught fire.
In Germany, authorities are similarly probing a series of fires at a Leipzig warehouse, also believed to be caused by hidden incendiary devices inside parcels. According to Polish Prosecutor Katarzyna Calow-Jaszewska, the suspects were involved in a plot “to test the transfer channel for such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada.”
Calow-Jaszewska disclosed that “four people involved in ‘sabotage’ and ‘of an international nature’ were detained.” She said the packages, described by the Wall Street Journal as “electric massagers implanted with a magnesium-based flammable substance,” were part of what Polish authorities consider a broader Russian scheme. The devices allegedly ignited or detonated during land and air transport across the EU and the UK.
Although Russia has denied involvement, a Kremlin spokesperson dismissed the claims reported by the Wall Street Journal as “traditional unsubstantiated insinuations from the media.”
The UK incident in Birmingham involved a package that caught fire after arriving by air. The investigation into this and related incidents is currently being led by officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command with support from Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands.