Mystery parcel fires were ‘test runs’ to target cargo flights to US, says Poland

Russia denies being behind acts of sabotage.

But it is suspected to have been behind attacks on warehouses and railway networks in EU member states this year, including in Sweden and in the Czech Republic.

German BfV’s head Thomas Haldenwang has described the device that caught fire at DHL’s logistics hub at Leipzig-Halle airport as suspected Russian sabotage.

The package is thought to have arrived from Lithuania and its onward flight was delayed.

The device that caught fire in Minworth is also understood to have come from Lithuania, where the head of the parliament’s national security and defence committee, Arvydas Pocius, said it was part of an ongoing campaign of hybrid attacks aimed at “causing chaos, panic and mistrust”.

DHL has increased security since the recent freight fires. “DHL Express has taken measures in all European countries to protect its network, its employees and facilities, as well as its customers’ shipments,” a spokeswoman said a few weeks ago.

Poland’s government has already responded to Russian sabotage, with Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announcing the closure of a Russian consulate in Poznan and threatening to expel the Russian ambassador if it fails to bring an end to its attacks.

Russia’s foreign ministry condemned the move as “a hostile step that will be met with a painful response”.